Love is Free, not bought
by PandoraJ
Summary: Annabeth Chase, a girl with a horrible past is forced to go to a school where everyone knows her secrets, but when she meets Percy Jackson, a boy who doesn't care about her past, will she be able to trust him with her love, or will he turn out like the others. If you are going through abuse or have been taken advantage of, this story may or may not be for you.
1. Day 1, part 1

**_Hello Readers! Welcome to my second story called "Love is Free, not bought." If you are one of my followers and you're like, "Hey, where is Chapter 7. in 'Forbidden Love and a Forgotten past'?" Don't worry, it's coming. If you just saw this story and wanted to read it, by all means, read it, but check out my other story too. I feel that that story is way better written and I only wrote the first chapter of this one so far._**

 ** _I wanted to write this because I feel that the things in this story aren't said enough, abuse is not the excuse and taking advantage of someone is even worse. If anyone is going through any of the events in this story, you may PM me if you want, for support or just to talk. I am here for you. That is only a suggestion._**

 ** _Thank you to all who are reading this, now on with the story!_**

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Chapter 1.

~Annabeth's pov~

It all started when I was younger. My family was very poor and we had to make ends meet. It was my father and I. My mother had left for no reason and we had to provide for the two of us. I worked at a drugstore, my father knew. Then my father got married. My stepmother already had two sons, so we had to provide for all five of us now. We were middle class for a while, until my stepmother became sick.

Where am I going with this? Believe me, you'll find out.

So my stepmother became sick and we had to get her some medicine. I was twelve and now I had two jobs.

But my dad never knew that. He was just happy that I was able to bring home some money.

No one knew my job, but me, my stepmother and my customers.

Before I say anymore, I will tell you, I am a virgin. Enough said right?

Yes, I would offer up my body to those who wanted it and paid a great amount of money.

See, I would give them my body, but when it got to the point of any type of sex, that's when I would knock them out.

How?

I did say I worked at a store. A drug store to be exact. I would use something I either bought or stole from the store or I could just grab an item somewhere off to the side a hit them in the head if needed.

And I always got away. The drug I used would make the person forget me and my face, so I would never have to run from someone who was unsatisfied with my job.

My stepmother said it was the only way I could help my family. Even if they weren't blood, I still cared for my step brothers. My stepmother was a different story.

See, she was the reason I got into this mess. She forced me to do it. I would never have done anything like this to myself. She wanted the money for her greedy self so she could get better, but she was willing to put me at risk for her safety. She never loved me.

Now let's fast forward. I am currently sixteen years old. My stepmother is healthy and there are no more medical bills, we are (somewhat) happy and are no longer poor.

How my secret got out, I don't know. In my first year of high school, I met Luke. Captain of the soccer team (soccer is the main sport at my school, not football), the guy every girl wanted.

Everyone but me.

He targeted me and at the end of my sophomore year, he invited me to a party.

Stupid me.

He was a junior and I was a sophomore. I found him attractive but never really had a crush on him, and I decided to go with him. So I was technically a junior and Luke was technically a senior, and we went to the party together.

Never trust horny guys and don't go anywhere with them alone, go with a group of friends and don't leave each others sides.

Luke, being a stereotypical guy, wanted what stereotypical guys want. He knew that I had once sold my body to people and wanted to try me out for free. He tried to get me drunk and once he thought I was, he pulled me to his car and drove to an abandoned factory. He began to touch me and I played drunk. I looked around for anything that could help me. I settled with the boot he was wearing, steel-toed and heavy. He torn off his clothes and tried to get mine off when I grabbed his boot off the car floor and smashed it into the side of his head.

I got out of his car and ran, calling my dad, tears in my eyes. I promised myself not to cry but when he answered and asked why I was calling him so early, I burst into tears and ugly snorts. My father picked me up only ten minutes later. Normally it would have taken twenty to half an hour, but he knew I was in trouble.

I told my dad what happened but not enough that he would go digging into my story and be able to find out the truth, about where I got all the money I was getting when I was twelve and all the things I had gone through that I never should have gone through at that age.

When I left the party that night, I had not known that Luke was going to tell everyone about my past. What he didn't know was that I never actually had sex, and he said he had sex with me.

And here I am today. Starting my junior year at the same school as last year, forced by my stepmother.

Looking in the mirror, I bring my hands to my face, pushing my hair back. My hair looked like it normally does, bouncy, curly and blonde. I shake my head, hands resting on my cheeks.

"Don't listen to them. They all know something, but it's not true. Don't get sucked into their lies." I repeated this five times, my counselor suggested it. He also suggested I go to a different school but my stepmother told me to grow up and decided against it, telling my dad and the counselor that I had come to her saying that I wanted to go back to that horrible school.

And I even heard that there was a new principal this year. One who doesn't know the students yet. One who is young and inexperienced.

I pulled on my book bag and looked at the time.

7:20.

I walked out of my room and my dad took me to school. When we were outside of the school, my dad stopped the car and I got out.

"You don't have to go. We can find another school." My dad said more as a plead more than a suggestion. I hesitated for a moment. I remembered what my stepmother had said. If I said anything to my dad about switching schools, she would put me back into the unpleasant business I once had to go through. Why she wanted me to go to this school so bad, I had no idea.

"No, I'm okay dad. I'll be okay." I gave him a kiss and closed the door. I looked at the car in front of me and saw the driver grab at the person in the passenger seat, yanking the hair of that poor person. Then the person in the passenger seat grab the arm of the driver. He twisted it and I heard a yelp. The door opened and a boy stepped out, he had black hair. I heard curses from inside the car as it drove off and the boy pulled out his cell phone. He began speaking in a hushed voice and after about a minute he hung up. I turned around, hoping that he didn't see me watching him. My dad was still waiting there and had seen the whole thing. He didn't drive off until I was safely inside.

I walked to my locker, we were given our locker numbers, unofficial classes and combinations during the summer after we got our ID's and pictures taken. I still had time to get to class, there was almost no one out in the hallway.

I pulled out my stuff and put it in my locker, only leaving three notebooks for my first three classes. Still five minutes. People began to fill the hallway. Anywhere would be good but in a crowded hallway with people from last year, people who knew the lie Luke had told them, everyone who knew my secret. I pulled out my unofficial schedule that I got during the summer and headed to my first class, social studies. When I got there, the teacher began passing out official schedules. I picked up my stuff, I had to walk to the other end of the building in three minutes. When the one minute bell rang, I ran the remainder of the way to class and looked up.

Not fast enough.

I ran into someone. A boy, messy black hair, sea green eyes, I wanted to melt. He was handsome, way more than Luke and he was my age because otherwise he wouldn't have been in this class...unless he flunked. He was tall, around six foot maybe, compared to me at five foot nine. As we smashed into each other, I dropped my social studies book I grabbed from my last teacher and it hit the floor with a thud.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The boy said, scooping up my book. As he bent down I looked at the class, no one had noticed me yet. He came back into my view and smiled. He rubbed the back of his neck and I saw his cheeks color. I felt my own cheeks grow warm.

Yup. Never seen him around before.

"Sorry again."

"It's alright. Thank you for picking it up."

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

"Annabeth Chase." He smiled.

"I'm new here, could you maybe show me around? Well, unless you're new here too." The bell rang.

"Oh, no. I have been here since freshman year. I can show you around. Are you free after school?"

"Should be."

"Alright, meet me here." I replied.

"Good morning everyone. I'm your teacher this semester. Call me Mr. J. Here are your seats." He projected a seating chart on the front board and everyone got into their seats. To my disappointment I sat across the room from Percy. When he found me staring, he smiled and waved, catching to attention of no other than Rachel who sat next to him.

"Ew! I have to be in the same class as that!?" She yelled pointing a finger at me. I pulled my head down as everyone followed her finger to me. Percy looked confused, he didn't know.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't find out sooner or later.

"Rachel, have respect for your classmates, now, let's start the first day off with a pop quiz!" Everyone groaned, but I don't know if it was because of the quiz or me.

I stayed quiet the rest of the hour. Even after the quiz was over and we could talk to people around us. Instead I pulled out my phone and listened to music. I looked over my schedule and found my next class was English. I looked up and I saw Percy next to the teacher, who was reading Percy the questions. Percy was answering them out loud. The bell rang and I was the first one out of the classroom.

"Hey! Annabeth, wait up!" I heard through my earbuds, it was Percy.

"Yes?" I asked politely.

"I need help finding my next class. Where are the English classrooms?" I grabbed his schedule and looked at it. For second my heart skipped a beat, until I saw his room number.

"Follow me, we're going the same way."

"Are we in the same class again?" He asked hopefully, catching up with me once again.

"No, our classes are right next to each other."

"Oh, that's sucks." I blush and nodded.

Oh, no. I can't like Percy. He'll turn out like the others. He'll cast me off when he finds out the lie everyone thinks is true.

And if he is anything like Luke (although I doubt it), then he'll break my heart, or worse. Try to do what Luke did to me.

When we were outside of our classrooms I looked at his schedule again. I told him we had hour 1, 3, 6 and 7 together and we both had B lunch which was after fifth hour. I handed him his schedule and we parted ways.

English flew by after I saw my friend Piper and then I had science. Percy sat next to me because no one wanted to.

Fourth hour Greek. Fifth hour math, thankfully I was with Piper again, but then I also had to deal with Rachel too.

Lunch came and I sat with Piper and her boyfriend Jason, who was also my friend. They had been dating since the beginning of sophomore year. I told Piper the truth and she told Jason with my permission. They have been helping me out with the situation ever since I first told Piper.

I looked up from my food to look at Piper and Jason but found myself looking past them. I saw Percy. He was standing up, he was at a table with the popular kids, and right next to Rachel. Our locked eye on each other and he started his journey to my table.

Rachel saw where he was going and grabbed his arm. He turned and she stood to whisper in his ear. He looked back in my direction. His eyes were wide and surprised. I felt tears in my eyes again and my throat began to throb, getting ready for me to cry. I slightly shook my head begging him not to believe her.

Suddenly, his eyes went soft and he looked like he was in pain. He harshly broke out of Rachel's grasp and continued walking towards me. This was it, he was going to reject me like everyone else. He came up to my table and bent down next to me.

"So, are we still on for after school?" I was shocked. He knew. Rachel told him, I could tell. He knew and he still wanted to meet me after school.

I nodded and a tear streamed down my face. He used his thumb to brush it aside, smiled, and got up as the bell for the next class rang.

~Percy's pov~

I woke up. My alarm didn't go off, again. I looked at my alarm clock.

7:05

I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I brushed my hair but it didn't really help get it under control so I left it and brushed my teeth. I ran back to my bedroom and pulled on the clothes I put out the night before. I looked in the mirror and smiled.

Today was going to be horrid.

But at least I can start it off with a good attitude.

I ran downstairs and grabbed something to eat. I kissed my mom goodbye and heard a yell as I ran out the door.

"Make me breakfast woman! Now where's that boy!?" I ran faster down the street but stopped when a car almost ran me over, a cackle coming from inside.

"Get in the car boy." I pulled open the door, I had no choice unless I wanted to get kicked out of my house...again.

"It's Percy." I said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever prissy. Stop complaining or I'll send you to school with half your hair out of your head." I rolled my eyes at my stepdad. The rest of the ride was silent. When he pulled up to the school, I opened the door to get out but he grabbed my arm, pulling me back in.

"Listen here, boy. If you get kicked out of this school..." I flinched away as he grabbed my hair and yanked it back.

"I'll make sure your mother pays for your mistakes." That was it. He had been threatening my mom for too long. I grabbed his arm with both of my hands and twisted his skin in different directions. He yelped in pain and loosened his grip on my hair. I scrambled out of the car and slammed the door. I rubbed my head and turned towards the school as I heard curses from inside the car that quickly pulled away. I called my mom before stepping inside to warn her of the incident with my stepfather. She thanked me and wish me good luck on my first day.

I turned around and saw a girl with blonde hair enter the school. She had on a gray sweatshirt and blue skinny jeans. Her hair fell over her shoulders and bounced at every step she took. I noticed a man watching me from his car as I was walking into the school. He gave me a smile and nodded, then pulled off.

I walked to my locker and then went to my first class. There I was given a new schedule and was sent to another class. I walked in and put my stuff down on a desk. I sharpened my pencil at the desk and stayed quiet. When the one minute bell rang, I stood up and walked over to the garbage can, where I emptied my pencil sharpener and bumped into someone. A book fell and I decided not to have any enemies on my first day.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." I said picking up the book. I looked at her feet, then her legs. Blue skinny jeans. I stood up and looked upon the girl I saw walking into the school, her blonde hair bouncing, gray sweatshirt that matched her mysterious and intimidating gray eyes. She's beautiful. I rubbed the back of my neck and smiled, my face growing warm. She blushed.

"Sorry again." I said.

"It's alright. Thank you for picking it up." Her voice came out so smooth it sounded like silk.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

"Annabeth Chase." I smiled.

"I'm new here, could you maybe show me around? Well, unless you're new here too." I was interrupted by the bell.

"Oh, no. I have been here since freshman year. I can show you around. Are you free after school?"

"Should be." I replied.

"Alright, meet me here."

"Good morning everyone. I'm your teacher this semester. Call me Mr. J. Here are your seats." I looked at the screen and projected was our seats. I grabbed my stuff and moved to my seat. I sat right across from Annabeth. I looked at her and found her staring at me. I decided to smile and wave. I nearly jumped out of my socks as I heard someone scream next to me.

"Ew! I have to be in the same class as that!?" She yelled pointing a finger at Annabeth. Annabeth sunk in her seat and I gave her a confused look.

"Rachel, have respect for your classmates, now, let's start the first day off with a pop quiz!" The whole class groaned. I had trouble reading my quiz. I had to walk up to the teacher a lot so he could read me the questions. He asked me if I was alright but once I told him I had dyslexia, he understood. I sat next to him the rest of the hour finishing up my quiz. I was close to the exit. I finished right before the bell rang and watched as Annabeth rushed out the door. I stood up, grabbed my things, thanked the teacher and ran after her.

"Hey! Annabeth, wait up!" I yelled, making Annabeth turn around.

"Yes?" She questioned.

"I need help finding my next class. Where are the English classrooms?" She grabbed my schedule that I pulled out of my bookbag while trying to catch up to her and looked at it.

"Follow me, we're going the same way."

"Are we in the same class again?" I asked a little too eagerly, catching up with her again.

"No, our classes are right next to each other."

"Oh, that's sucks." I saw her blush and nod, her hair bouncing. I looked at her again, she looked deep in thought, maybe even fighting with herself. I could only wonder what she was thinking about. When we were outside of my classroom, she looked at my schedule again. She told me we had hour 1, 3, 6 and 7 together and we both had B lunch which was after fifth hour. She gave me my schedule and we went to our classrooms.

English was a bore, but after accidentally flicking my pencil at the person in front of me, we became friends. His name was Jason Grace. He had blonde hair, sky blue eyes and a small scar on his lip. Turns out he was also in my first class and gym class. After our english teacher, , asked us to stop talking he resumed his lesson and Jason and I began to crack jokes about him. Nothing mean, just mimicking and other things guys do.

I can tell Jason and I are going to be good friends.

Science came next and I sat next to Annabeth. The seat was open and I didn't know anyone else...so why not? After that came math which I almost fell asleep in. Next was study hall, which I did fall asleep in. After about forty-five minutes, I woke up to someone shaking me. It was a guy, he was about as tall as me, maybe an inch taller. He began talking to me and asking me questions.

"I'm a junior." I told him, answering his question.

"I'm a Senior. What's your name?" He asked.

"Percy Jackson."

"Nice to meet you Percy. I'm Luke Castellan." He held out a hand and I took it. He told me he was in the band and he had it seventh hour. I pulled out my schedule. I had band too. I remember signing up for it but didn't look at my schedule close enough to notice.

No one really knew, but I was a pretty good saxophone player and drummer. I've been playing since I was in fifth grade and haven't given up. Although I didn't really care for marching band, I decided to join because I still wanted to play.

Honestly, I didn't really care which one I was chosen for. I just wanted to play and being in the band was the only way how. The bell rang and Luke asked if I wanted to sit with him and his friends at lunch since I was, and I quote "A new kid" and "First days are always the hardest". I told him only for a little while because I had another friend (Annabeth, but I didn't say that) to sit with.

I walked back to my locker and put my book bag inside. Then I got in the lunch line and grabbed my food. When it came to finding somewhere to sit, I found Luke. He waved me over and I sat down next to him. I was introduced to his friends. One of them was Rachel. The girl who spoke out in my first class. She made me really uncomfortable, sitting really close, trying to hold my hand, trying to make me look down her shirt. I looked around the room to find Annabeth. When I found her, I stood up and began walking towards her. Someone grabbed my arm and I freaked.

I had to remember that this was school.

My step dad isn't here. He isn't here.

It took everything in me not to rip loose of the grip and punch the person who had grabbed me in the face. I turned to find Rachel holding my arm. She stood up and whispered something in my ear.

"Don't go by Annabeth. She's a prostitute." She told me Annabeth's past, what happened with Luke, and some other discussing things. I looked at Annabeth eyes wide. This couldn't be her. She wouldn't. She is too good to do anything Rachel had said. Annabeth looked at me. She knew what Rachel had told me and tears were forming in her eyes. She was shaking her head, almost telling me not to believe it. That's why she was always alone, because everyone believed what Rachel had just told me.

But I wouldn't. Not until Annabeth told me it was true.

I had been lied to and about before. I knew her pain. I might not have been in her situation, but when I went home everyday, I was abused, I was starved at some points, I would have to protect my mother from an enraged drunk who doesn't care for either of us. It always fell on me, my stepfather would blame all the pain coming to my mother and I on me. And since freshman year, I believed it.

To this very day, I believe it.

Rachel tried to get me back to the table but I ripped out of her grip and continued my journey to Annabeth, each step imagining what she might have had to go through. I stopped at the edge of the table and bent down.

"So, are we still on for after school?" She was shocked. She didn't know this yet, but I wasn't one to hurt someone even more than they already are.

She gave me a small nod and a tear began to fall down her cheek. I brushed it away with my thumb and smiled. I stood up and the bell rang. I turned back to see Rachel and her table, along with Luke watching me. Actually, almost the whole lunchroom was watching.

But I didn't care.

Annabeth had been treated the wrong way for too long.

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 ** _So how was it? I know, not to good, but 'Forbidden Love and a Forgotten past' is way better! Please, go read it._**

 ** _I like to ask questions to the readers and then give them the summary of the next chapter if they get the answer right. So here is a question._**

 ** _Will you read my other story?_**

 ** _Okay, so maybe this question doesn't have a right answer, but do you see how much I want you guys to read my other story?_**

 ** _Read & Review!_**

 ** _Thanks._** ** _~VictoryD_**


	2. Day 1, part 2

_**Sorry for the long wait guys. Believe it or not, I've been busy with my life.**_

 _ **So I went to a bookstore and got THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS! Yes I haven't read it yet, I still need to finish The House of Hades. Plus I am going on vacation...so maybe less updates. I took forever to update this chapter and know you know why.**_

 _ **Thanks to the; followers of me: HispanicThug, PunksNotDeadYouAre, The feels always hit me, and XxDarkDalekXx.**_

 _ **favorites of me: Sora Loves Rain, PunksNotDeadYouAre, EatBlueFoodAlways, The feels always hit me, and XxDarkDalekXx.**_

 _ **story followers: HispanicThug, Soccerfan2014, shadley16, LibraKid98, TheOneThatSitsAndLISTENS, wisdomsdaughter6504, Biaxbm, AnNatalie, PunksNotDeadYouAre, EatBlueFoodAlways, I'm Not A Princess, micheal. foster. 908, erinkessler15, FoggyNights.p2, The feels always hit me, King Of Beasts 007, InsaneNerd99, Catnip-wisegirl, r. olsen01, itzelaraujo, christianateen13, BeckR, Daydreaming Stories, marinaofthesea12, and XxDarkDalekXx.**_

 _ **story favorite: pjojellybeans, shadley16, Sora Loves Rain, TheOneThatSitsAndLISTENS, wisdomsdaughter6504, PunksNotDeadYouAre, EatBlueFoodAlways, erinkessler15, and The feels always hit me.**_

 _ **reviewers (I should have messaged you): HispanicThug, pjojellybeans, LibraKid98, TheOneThatSitsAndLISTENS, Biaxbm, Jessica Jasso (guest), PunksNotDeadYouAre, XxDarkDalekXx, theNerdfromNaboo, micheal. foster. 908, and BeckR.**_

 _ **P.S.: I wanted to say thanks to those who PMed me just to talk with me, there were some very interesting and information full conversations. Also to: The feels always hit me, I LOVE YOUR PEN NAME!**_

 _ **OKAY, I'M DONE, ENJOY!**_

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Chapter 2.

~Annabeth's pov~

Sixth hour I saw him again. We had gym together. Girls went to their changing room and boys to theirs. I walked in and no one but Piper talked to me. After changing, we walked out and found most of the boys ready. Percy was talking to Jason. Piper called Jason's name and ran into his arms. Jason caught her and introduced Percy and Piper. I walked up to them and when Jason tried to introduce Percy to me, Percy stopped him.

"We have already met." He said.

"Oh." Jason said looking between us. I was bright red and Percy was getting there. Jason must not have noticed Percy walk up and talk to me during lunch.

"So I guess you found my friends." I directed towards Percy, my face returning to its normal color.

"I guess so."

"How do you know Jason?" I asked.

"We have English together. Accidentally flicked him with my pencil and started crack jokes about the teacher. Although, I have never met Piper. I don't think we have any classes together."

"Fourth hour math." Piper said.

"Really?" Percy asked.

"I sit way in the back left corner."

"Oh, I sit in the front right corner."

"Wait, were you the kid that almost fell asleep?"

"Maybe..." Percy said sheepishly.

"You were!" Piper laughed.

"Alright cupcakes. I'll say your names aloud and you will line up." Instead of lining us up by last name like he did last year, (more formally know as Coach Hedge) lined us up by first name. Percy and Piper stood right next to each other. If Percy was anything like Piper, they were going to cause a lot of trouble. Coach went down the line to make sure we were all here and stopped at Percy.

"Percy Jackson?"

"Yes sir, and you're Coach Hedge."

"I feel like I know you..." Coach Hedge looked at him strange and Percy mirrored him but with a smirk on his face. Coach Hedge continued down the line.

"It's nice to see you again." Percy added. Coach Hedge stopped and looked to Percy again. He dropped his arms down to his side and walked back over to Percy.

"Third, fourth, and fifth grade. I was the one that climbed all the way to the top of the ropes-"

"When I said to go only half way. Yeah, I remember you now." He gave Percy a stern look then grabbed his shoulder and laughed.

"You were always my favorite student, an overachiever you were." Percy smiled at him.

"Now let me tell you guys." Coach Hedge said to the group, grabbing Percy and standing him right next to him, so everyone was able to see him. Compared to Percy, Coach Hedge was like a midget.

"This boy is an amazing athlete, good at every sport, and don't even get me started on soccer. You are going to try out this year aren't you?" He asked Percy, who was red with embarrassment. A new kid being called out in front of a class on the first day of school and being talked about, even if it's a good thing, was embarrassing.

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Oh come on my boy, you gotta try out, and guess who's the coach."

"Let me guess." Percy laughed.

"So you will?" Percy thought for a minute.

"Yeah, I think about it."

"Alright! Now back in line." He said slapping Percy on the back happily. He finished the attendance and told us we were going outside.

When we got to the field, there were cones set up, we were playing kickball to start off the first day.

"Alright, team captains...Percy and Jason." The two stepped over to coach and Percy picked first.

"Annabeth." He said. I was startled. He picked me first!?

"Connor." Jason said.

"Jason!" Piper yelled.

"What?"

"You know what, whatever Jason."

"Piper." Percy said with a smirk, directed towards Jason.

"Well thank you, Percy. At least I know someone cares." Piper said walking over to Percy and I.

"You were my next pick." Jason protested.

"I should have been your first! Besides you probably would have chosen Travis next."

"No, and to prove it...I pick Silena." Piper gasped.

"Dude, should have picked a guy." Percy said.

"Oh that's the final straw Jason, you're going down." Piper said.

"Looks like we have some bad blood stirring, this will make an interesting game. Percy, your pick."

"Travis."

"Hey, that was my next pick." Jason said. Percy laughed and shrugged.

"Hey, you could have avoided all this if you would have picked Piper."

Soon the rest of the people were picked and we began to play. Since Percy picked first, Jason's team started off.

Percy was amazing. He was quick and light on his feet, catching kickballs and throwing them to people so they could tag the kicker. Soon it was our turn. Percy was up first, the ball was pitched and he kicked the ball way past everyone standing in the field.

"Come on guys, team run!" Percy said. We stood there in awe but soon snapped out of it and run behind him. He was running pretty slow because no one had possession of the ball yet. He was rounding third when someone got to the ball. He began to walk as everyone else on his team ran past him. I stopped next to him and smiled.

"Nice kick."

"Thanks, soccer really helps." He replied.

And that's how the game went. We won 16 to 2.

By the end, Percy was a sweaty mess, he was wearing soccer pants and a long sleeve workout shirt. He must have been dying. I was, and I was in shorts and a tank top.

"You look hot." I said.

"Thanks. I thought maybe you liked me." I reddened. Well of course he was HOT, but I meant he looked warm.

"I-I meant-"

"I know, I'm playing with you. Yeah, I'm kind of warm, but I'm not dying, otherwise is be on the ground probably shaking from heat stroke."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good. If I was you, I would be dying." I said. We were nearing the locker rooms.

"Yeah, then I would call you hot, and not because you were sweating and warm." He said with a smirk before entering the boys locker room.

What just happened?

"Percy is totally crushing on you!" Piper said out of nowhere.

"Wh-what!? No, we're just friends." I told Piper.

"Yeah, okay." She said. I repeated Percy's words in my mind.

'Yeah, then I would call you hot, and not because you were sweating and warm.'

I blushed. Did Percy like me?

It was only the first day, surely Percy would get bored and find another girl.

I got back into my normal clothes and freshened myself up in the mirror. When I was finished, I looked closely at my reflection. I remembered this morning, telling myself to not get sucked into the lies of my peers.

Could Percy really love me?

What if he thought it was true? Even if he thought what Rachel said was true, would he still love me? The bell rang and I walked out of the locker room with Piper. We walked to the band room together and pulled out our instruments from our lockers.

I put my flute together and Piper put her clarinet together. Jason was already there, his trumpet already set up. It wasn't like he had to do anything. All he had to do was put on a mouthpiece. He was already playing some music. He saw us and walked over, sitting next to Piper who was still a little mad about Jason not picking her to be on his team. As Jason was trying to fix the situation, I saw Percy talking to the band director. Percy followed the band director to the other end of the room, where he picked up a drum.

Percy picked up a snare drum. He put it on and began playing. He was good. Really good. He tried out some other types but stuck with the snare. The bell rang and the band instructor had us walk out to the back of the school where we practiced for marching band. Percy didn't have the music so he asked the band teacher. Percy sat out for the first time through because he had to hear the song before playing it. Percy was given what he needed to play and practiced off to the side. After playing a few times through, the band split into different instrument groups and played our assigned parts.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and found myself looking at Luke.

"What do you want, Luke?" I asked harshly.

"Look, I'm sorry Annabeth. I told people that what I said was a lie. I don't know what went through my head. I promise, by this time tomorrow, everyone in the school will know it was a lie. Will you forgive me?"

I didn't believe him. Why would he ask me for forgiveness when he could just leave me out on a branch and be named as 'cool'? Maybe he realized that what he did was wrong and thought I didn't deserve it. Maybe him seeing Percy walk up to me after he heard Rachel's lie about me was too much for him.

Or maybe not.

"Maybe we could talk about it over ice cream? After school?" He asked.

I looked at him, I didn't trust him alone with me. Not after what happened, but this time it was a public place. The party during the summer had been a public place too, though.

Who knows, maybe Luke was actually being sincere.

"Okay Luke, I forgive you. Ice cream sounds great."

"Great."

What did I just agree to?

The end of the day came and I walked up to Percy as he was taking off his snare drum. I stood behind him and swallowed.

"Percy?"

"Oh, hey Annabeth."

"I think I'm mentally challenged."

"What? There is no way. I can tell you're one of the smartest people in our class, it just kind of radiates off of you."

"No, Percy I-"

"Annabeth." Percy said softly, turning and placing his hands on my shoulders. He looked me in the eyes.

"You are not mentally challenge and to prove it-"

"I said I would go and get ice cream with Luke." Percy's face fell and he glared behind me. He tensed up and the grip he had on my shoulders tightened.

"And you came over here to ask me to come with you?" Percy asked, although it was more like a demand.

Why hadn't I thought of that?

"Percy you're a genius!" I said hugging him. When I pulled away his face was red and he was smiling sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Then I guess that makes you a mega genius." He laughed, his mood had changed from angry to happy in a matter of seconds.

"You ready to go Annabeth? We are going to the shop a few blocks away, so we can walk there." I heard from behind me, it was Luke.

"Actually Luke, I'm driving Annabeth." Percy said putting his arm around me protectively. Was Percy getting jealous?

"I didn't invite you." Luke snarled.

"But I did. We have a project to work on after this, and he is coming to my house." I said. I could tell Luke was frustrated but he just let it go.

"Fine, see you there." He mumbled as he stomped off.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Um...we're going to have to go to my house first." Percy said.

"Why?"

"Well you want to arrive in style, don't you?" He said. I gave him a confused look.

After a ten minute walk, we arrived at Percy's house. He told me to stay on the sidewalk and I waited as he went in. His house was actually alright. It was connected to a candy store. My curiosity won out and I walked into the store. There was candy everywhere, but what really got me was the wall behind the counter that was dedicated to blue candy. From lollipops to gum, they had it all.

"Hello miss, how may I help you today?" The lady behind the counter asked. She had brown hair and she looked pretty young. Her blue eyes full of happiness.

"Oh, I'm just looking. I never knew there was a store over here. Do you get lots of customers?" She pulled her head up, her eyes changed color in the light.

"Sometimes. Mostly during the summer when the kids of the neighborhood are running around and wander wherever they want, but I make enough to keep the place and provide for me and my son."

"He must love that you work in a candy shop. How old is your son?"

"Actually, I made this wall for him, he loves the color blue." I heard a bell from the door opening.

"And here comes my son now."

"Annabeth?" It was Percy.

"Percy? You're her son?"

"You two know each other?" Percy's mom said.

"We go to the same school mom. This is Annabeth."

"Well it's nice to meet you Annabeth. I'm Sally. It nice to know Percy made a friend on the first day."

"Okay, well mom, we're going to go."

"Leaving so soon-"

"Sally!"

"Oh, look at the time. It was nice to meet you Annabeth. Percy." She said giving Percy a look. He took my hand and lead me out of the shop. I watched Sally as I was taken out of the shop. What was that yelling about? I felt Percy's hand let go of mine as we neared the road.

"Take this." Percy said, handing me a helmet.

"What's this for?" Stupid question. He stepped out of the way and found a motorcycle. It was all black and on the side, it said "Blackjack".

"So your version of "going in style" is on a motorcycle." I asked. Percy smiled.

"Oh yeah. You're...okay with going on a motorcycle, right? I mean unless you want to walk or ride my skateboard."

"You skateboard?"

"Is that a yes or a no to the motorcycle?" I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"Sure." Percy helped me get the helmet on, although I told him I could do it. As soon as it was on correctly, he hopped on his motorcycle and gestured for me to get on. I sat down behind him and suddenly felt queasy. What if we got in a crash. I hugged Percy's stomach tightly which produced a laugh from the driver.

"Don't worry Annabeth. We aren't going to get hit."

"You never know. Have you ever had anyone else on the back of one of these before." He was quiet for a second before answering.

"Yeah." He sighed. He started it up and drove off. We got to the ice cream shop eight minutes later. Luke was just entering the shop with none other than Rachel. They had walked. They both watched us jealously as Percy and I hopped off the motorcycle. Rachel looked like she wanted to hit Luke, while Luke looked like he wanted to hit Percy who had a smug smile on his face.

What happened that got them to hate each other already? What happened to Percy sitting with them at lunch? They had been perfectly fine then. I pulled off the helmet and gave it to Percy who just hung it on one of the handlebars of his bike.

"You're not going to take it in?"

"Nah, I barely use it. Who's going to steal it anyway? If it is taken...well, it's more fun when you don't have one on." He smiled. We walked up to Luke and Rachel and we all walked in. I sat down in a booth and tried to get Percy to sit down by me but Luke sat down next to me, which meant Percy had to sit next to Rachel. He looked a little uncomfortable. Rachel began to look at Percy like he was, as she would say, "yummy".

A waitress came by and we ordered our ice cream. We were quiet except Rachel laughing every so often as she poked Percy's arm to feel his muscle and he would pull away. The waitress came back five minutes later and gave us our ice cream. I had cookie and cream, Percy had cookie dough, Luke had mint chocolate chip, and Rachel had some red ice cream that was as red as her hair. Something raspberry or strawberry maybe. It didn't look like normal strawberry but I wasn't sure, I wasn't listening to her order her ice cream.

We were almost finished with our ice cream and someone finally decided to say something.

"So Annabeth, I wanted to ask you...if maybe you wanted to do this again...just the two of us." Luke said with a smile.

"I don't know Luke."

"I already told you that everyone is going to know it's a lie, you can trust me." Percy laughed and everyone looked at him as he dug his spoon into his ice cream one last time.

"What's so funny?" Luke scoffed.

"You really think Annabeth wants anything to do with you? Why would she? Considering what you did to her? Yeah, I know the truth of what happened that night, she told me, but that's beside the point. Why would she want to date you after knowing what you did? Do you really think she is dumb enough to fall for you just so you can do it again?" Luke stood up and grabbed Percy by the collar.

"Watch your tongue if you want to keep it."

"You call that a threat?" Percy shot back at him. Luke swung at him but missed as Percy flinched away. His eyes were wide for only a second and Luke went to hit him again. Percy's eyes went back to normal and he grabbed Luke's arm and twisted it, then sent him flying over his shoulder. I stood up and stepped between the two of them.

"What is wrong with you two?" I yelled. Luke got up from the floor and I felt something touch my lips, another pair. My eyes shot open and I found Luke kissing me. I tried to pull away but he grabbed my head harshly and deepened it.

Not again. I knew I couldn't trust him. I heard something, or someone, fall behind me. One thing went through my mind.

Where was Percy and why wasn't he helping me?

I touched the table and found Luke's glass ice cream cup. I brought it up and smashed it against his head. I felt a piece hit me but I was just happy that Luke fell to the ground. I turned and found Rachel on top of Percy in the booth. Percy was having a hard time getting up and away. Seeing this I got...jealous.

Yes! Jealous!

I yanked Rachel's hair and pulled her up. She screeched and grabbed my arm. I grabbed her arm and twisted it, she let go of me and I dropped her on top of the unconscious Luke. By now, a waitress was out. She saw the whole thing actually. She was bringing the bill over and saw the whole thing. Great. She had a shocked face but snapped out of it, smiled and spoke.

"You're okay. I'll let you guys go. It wasn't you're fault. It was all theirs. I take it you want them to have the bill?" Why was she helping us?

"Yes, please." Percy said.

"Thankfully, I was the only one out here and there wasn't any more customers. Otherwise...anyway, you should go." The waitress said. Her green eyes were shining and her black hair was up in a perfect bun. She looked a little like Percy actually. They had very similar features.

"What if they tell the manager? I mean they still know what happened, and there is all of this proof on the floor." There were shards of glass of the floor and some tables and chair were pushed over and moved from Luke and Rachel getting pushed into them.

"I am the manager here. Don't worry, they won't tell anyone. I promise they won't say a word." She said the last sentence with a mischievous look on her face. She stepped over to me and pulled a piece of glass out my face. I felt a stinging but then she rubbed her thumb over it and I touched my face.

Not a puncture from the glass anywhere. She smiled. Her white teeth glowing as bright as her eyes.

How did she do that? How could she be the manager? She was like a year younger than Percy and I.

"Thank you." Percy said. I was already out of the door. Walking fast towards my house.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled as I was walking.

"No Percy."

"Annabeth, what's wrong?"

"You, is what's wrong. How could you kiss Rachel?"

"What? She kissed me, I didn't kiss her. I never wanted to."

"Then why did I find you two in the booth?"

"She tackled me. Literally. I think she might have played football before."

"This isn't a joke Percy!" I yelled at him.

"I'm not joking. I didn't want to kiss her! If there was anyone here I wanted to kiss..." He stopped before finishing his sentence.

"Who!? Who would you want to kiss!?" I was too filled with anger to think about who he liked. All the signs Percy had given me today, I should have been able to put two and two together, but after seeing Percy and Rachel kissing, my intelligence went away and instead, my mind was using anger rather than actually trying to think anything through.

Percy grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes, they were filled with rage, then softened.

"You Annabeth! I don't love Rachel, I love...I love you." Percy said closing his eyes and turning away. My mouth hung open and my eyes widened.

Everything Percy had done for me, staying with me when he found out what happened to me (even though it wasn't the truth), and even in the ice cream shop, he was uncomfortable with Rachel poking his arm, and it was clear that he was trying to get away from Rachel and her kisses. Why was I mad at him?

"I'm sorry Percy. I don't know why I blew up at you. It wasn't your fault, I just...got a little jealous of Rachel kissing you. I'm sorry." I said as I turned away. I felt something tug my hand. It was Percy's hand. He turned me around and lifted my chin so I was looking at his face.

"You can't be jealous if you have done it too." He said lowering down his head and catching my lips with his. My eyes fluttered closed and I lifted my hands to rest on his neck. One of his hands rested on my hip and the other held my back. One of my hands went to his hair and I could feel something I had never felt before.

Fireworks.

With Luke, I felt nothing but disgust, but with Percy, it felt right.

He pulled away and I could still feel the fireworks. He put his forehead on mine and closed his eyes.

"Sorry, I know you must be uncomfortable, with what you've been through." He apologized.

"But none of that felt like this before." I said. He looked at me confused.

"What?"

"Nothing I have been through felt right, nothing had ever made me feel..." I was lost for words.

"Loved?" That was the word.

"Yeah." I said. He smiled at me.

"Well, if you want a ride home, my bike is that way." Percy pointed over his shoulder towards his bike.

"Actually, I think we have some unfinished business to take care of at school." He looked at me, confused. I convinced him to ride us to school where I gave Percy the tour I had promised him.

"Hey Percy, I wanted to ask you something."

"Hmm?"

"I didn't tell you that Luke had lied about what really happened, how did you know?"

"Jason told me."

"Thank you Jason."

"I heard my name." We heard from behind us.

We saw Piper and Jason walking up behind us. Piper winked at me, hopefully Percy didn't notice.

"You told Percy the truth about what happened."

"Oh yeah. Piper told me that the three of us had gym together and once I saw Percy had it too, I decided to tell him because he was probably going to be hanging out with us since Percy and I are already friends. Then I found out you guys knew each other, so...yeah. I guess it worked out."

"So what are you guys doing here so late?" Percy asked.

"Just some stuff for soccer, Piper was watching me."

"Do what?" I asked.

"I was in the weight room."

"Oh." Piper watched him lift weights? No offense, but who would want to watch someone lift weights for almost two hours, then get all stinky.

"You're going about it all wrong Jason. You don't have to lift for soccer. It's not football, it's fútbol." We all looked at Percy like he was speaking another language.

"Uh..." Jason said dumbfounded.

"You don't have to push a two hundred fifty pound guy like in football. I mean, it's okay to lift, but you don't have to do it for two hours just to stay in shape for soccer. You would be better off just doing some drills, stretching and running, put some planks in there somewhere and some other stomach and leg strengthening exercises, but you don't have to lift like you're going to be pushing someone back." There was silence.

"Coach Hedge did say you were good at soccer." Jason said.

"I'm okay."

"He said you are great. Amazing actually."

"That's because I actually tried to play while everyone else kind of stood there."

"Alright, I can tell you're being modest about it. So why are you guys here?" Jason asked.

"I was giving Percy a tour of the school liked he asked."

"For two hours?" Piper said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"No, first we had ice cream with Luke and Rachel."

"Ugh, what did they want." Jason asked.

"To kiss us first off." Percy said. I nudged him playfully and laughed.

"Then Annabeth grabbed a glass cup off a table and ninja smashed it on Luke's head. After that, she saw that I was a damsel in distress," he was dramatic and fell into a locker nearby, holding a hand to his head.

"and pulled Rachel's hair so hard I thought maybe it would have ripped out of her head."

"And you guys got out okay? No one called the cops?"

"There was no one else there. Only the waitress that was serving us saw it. She saw the whole thing and let Percy and I go."

"Cool waitress." Jason said.

"She made them pay the bill too." Percy added.

"Percy, I should probably go. I have homework and my parents are probably wondering where I-" my phone in my pocket began to buzz. I looked at the screen and it was my home phone number.

"That's them now. Hello?"

"Annabeth, where have you been!? Get home this instant."

"Fine." I said hanging up the phone.

"That was harsh." Percy said.

"That was my stepmother."

"Oh, okay never mind then. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"We'll walk with you guys."

"Actually, Percy drove us here." I said.

"Well we can walk out with you, we have to leave anyway." We all walked to the parking lot and Percy and I head towards his bike. Piper and Jason were startled when the realize Percy rode us here on a motorcycle, and a nice one at that.

Percy started the bike and made me put on the helmet. We waved goodbye to Jason and Piper and were off. I told Percy the directions as we made our way closer to my house.

When we got to my house, he let me get off of the bike. I stepped onto the sidewalk and Percy got off his bike. He took off the helmet I was wearing and walked me up to my door.

"So...good first day?" I asked.

"Well, I did make some friends and an enemy or two. I guess that counts as a good day. You?"

"Yes and no. The whole thing with Luke really made it bad but..."

"Yes?"

"I made a new friend today but he turned out to be something else." I said trying to sound disappointed.

"Did he hurt you? Who is he?" Percy asked defensively.

"He turned out to be my new best friend." I kissed Percy on the lips and opened my door, stepping inside. I closed the door and I found my stepmother with a man in our living room. I heard an almost inaudible "Yes!", some footsteps and then the ringing of a phone.

"Annabeth, come here." I walked into the living room and looked at the man. He was ugly and old, had barely any hair and was fat. He smelled of alcohol and throw up, but there was something else too.

Something familiar. Candy?

He looked disgusting. That was just his whole appearance.

"Um...hello?" I said. He smirked at me.

"Annabeth, this is ."

"Do I know you?"

"No, but you won't have to worry about that." He said.

"I'll leave you two." She left and I noticed what time it was. It was before five. My dad wasn't home, my step brothers weren't home, my stepmother left me alone with a strange man.

No! Not again!

" -"

"Just call me Gabe." He came closer and I knew what he wanted.

I screamed.

~Percy's pov~

I walked into the boys changing room and went to my gym locker. I got the combination from one of the teachers and tried to open my locker.

No luck.

"Need help?" I heard behind me. I turn and Jason was leaning against the lockers behind me. I had totally forgotten Jason was in my gym class.

"Hey, perfect timing." I gave him my combination number and he showed me how to open it.

"Did you bring your clothes? You have to change." Jason said.

"Yeah they're in my book bag, but I'm going to change in the bathroom, I have to go."

"Go ahead, I'm not stopping you."

I walked over to other side of the locker room where the bathrooms were located and went inside. I changed into my soccer pants and a long sleeve workout shirt.

There was no way I was letting anyone see my bruises. I flushed the toilet to make it sound like I went and walked out, washed my hands and left with Jason.

"Okay, so I want you to meet someone I know. Actually, two people. My girlfriend Piper, and her friend. They have gym with us. Now let me tell you, this girl has been through a lot and please just hear me out." He looked at me seriously.

"Okay."

"This girl has had to go through some things, like...um...how should I say it, prostitution, but she never actually did it with anyone. She had to do it against her own will because her stepmother was sick and they had to help her. Her stepmother was a witch and made this poor girl get into it. During the summer, some doorknob went and tried to...do it with her. His name is Luke, he is a senior here. She knocked him out and then he told this big lie to everyone here at this school. Everyone believes it because he said it was true and everyone stays away from this girl but Piper and I. She needs a friend and I think you can help her out...by being her friend too." Jason finished.

I knew he was talking about Annabeth right away. He must not have seen me talk to her during lunch. I saw him at her table.

"Jason!" Someone said. We both turned and found a girl running towards him, who he caught and hugged.

"Percy, this is my girlfriend Piper."

"Hello Percy. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Piper."

"And this is Annab-"

"We have already met." I told Jason.

"Oh." Jason looked at me, than at Annabeth. I felt my cheeks grow warm and saw Annabeth face was already as red as a tomato.

"So I guess you found my friends." Annabeth said to me. Her face was starting to lose it's red tint.

"I guess so."

"How do you know Jason?" She asked.

"We have English together. Accidentally flicked him with my pencil and started crack jokes about the teacher. Although, I have never met Piper. I don't think we have any classes together."

"Fourth hour math." Piper corrected me.

"Really?" I asked.

"I sit way in the back left corner." She confirmed.

"Oh, I sit in the front right corner."

"Wait, were you the kid that almost fell asleep?"

"Maybe..." I replied, trying to sound embarrassed even though I could have cared less if I got in trouble for it. It was a boring and hard subject.

"You were!" Piper laughed.

"Alright cupcakes. I'll say your names aloud and you will line up." The gym teacher called our names and I stood next to Piper.

When the teacher finally got to me, he stopped. I looked up at him, my green eyes piercing his eyes. I knew him from somewhere.

An old school maybe? Yeah, , my old gym teacher.

"Percy Jackson?"

"Yes sir, and you're Coach Hedge."

"I feel like I know you..." He gave me a puzzled look and I copied it, trying to be funny, a smirk present on my face. He resumed taking attendance and I almost couldn't believe he didn't remember me.

He was by far my favorite teacher when I was younger. Having him forget me? That wouldn't do.

"It's nice to see you again." I blurted out. Coach Hedge froze and looked at me. He dropped his arms and came back over to me.

"Third, fourth, and fifth grade. I was the one that climbed all the way to the top of the ropes-"

"When I said to go only half way. Yeah, I remember you now." He gave me a stern look but turned it into a smile, laughed, and grabbed my shoulder.

"You were always my favorite student, an overachiever you were." I gave him a smile.

"Now let me tell you guys." Coach Hedge was talking to the group now. He grabbed me and made me stand right next to him so everyone could see me.

"This boy is an amazing athlete, good at every sport, and don't even get me started on soccer. You are going to try out this year aren't you?" He directed his attention back to me. I was filled with embarrassment and I grew red. I was a new kid, on the first day of school and I was called out by a teacher. Obviously I felt a little embarrassed about being the only one to be called out, especially since it was for something good that others could be jealous of.

"I wasn't planning on it." I answered him truthfully.

"Oh come on my boy, you gotta try out, and guess who's the coach."

"Let me guess." I replied sarcastically with a laugh.

"So you will?" I thought it over.

Anything was better than home. But when I wasn't home...my mom...and my stepfather...

"Yeah, I'll think about it."

"Alright! Now back in line." Coach Hedge said clapping me on the back. He finished with the attendance and the whole class headed outside.

We went to a field where cones were set up. He informed us that we were playing kickball.

"Alright, team captains...Percy and Jason." I stepped forward and so did Jason. I was chosen to pick first.

"Annabeth." I said. She had a startled look on her face but walked over to me.

"Connor." Jason said.

"Jason!" Piper exclaimed.

"What?"

"You know what, whatever Jason."

"Piper." I said with a smirk.

"Well thank you, Percy. At least I know someone cares." Piper said walking over to me. I saw her give Jason a look.

"You were my next pick." Jason protested.

"I should have been your first! Besides you probably would have chosen Travis next."

"No, and to prove it...I pick Silena." I heard Piper suck in some air.

"Dude, should have picked a guy." I added in, laughing at his very unwise mistake.

"Oh that's the final straw Jason, you're going down." Piper said.

"Looks like we have some bad blood stirring, this will make an interesting game. Percy, your pick." Coach Hedge put in.

"Travis."

"Hey, that was my next pick." Jason said. I laughed and shrugged. I honestly didn't even know who Travis was, but since Piper said his name, and I didn't know anyone else by their name, I decided to pick him.

"Hey, you could have avoided all this if you would have picked Piper." I shot back at him.

When everyone was on a team, we started the game. Jason's team kicked first because I was the one to pick first.

Honestly, I didn't even try, and for two very good reasons.

1\. I didn't want coach seeing how good I was because he would probably force me to join the team, even though it was just kicking the ball.

2\. It was hot outside and I didn't want to die.

However, most of the balls did come to me and I would catch them or throw them so someone on my team could tag a runner out. Soon enough it was my teams turn.

I kicked first because I was the captain. I decided to actually try just once in this game. I gave my all in swinging my leg back and bringing it forward with as much force as I could.

Let's just say if I was on a professional soccer field and kicked from the end line or goal line, it would have went passed the halfway line. It went pretty far...past everyone one.

I looked at Jason's team and they all looked astonished. I felt eyes on me. I didn't want this attention.

Maybe I just have to give some attention to others. I turned towards my team and yelled to them.

"Come on guys, team run!" They stood there for a minute, flabbergasted, but I turned back around and ran towards first base.

First base.

I could hear feet hitting the ground behind me. I ran slow, no one had even gotten close to the ball yet on Jason's team.

Second base.

They were almost to the ball now.

Third base.

Someone finally picked up the ball but I began to walk. The ball was too far away for anyone to get me out. My teammates ran past me. I saw a figure with blonde hair slow down and walk next to me. I turned to her and she smiled.

"Nice kick." She said.

"Thanks, soccer really helps."

My team was up for a while and then we switched with Jason's team. They scored twice and then well...let's just say we kicked their butts, 16 to 2.

I was sweating badly, I was very hot, and I knew that if I didn't get water soon, I would pass out.

As our class was going back to the school Annabeth walked up to me again.

"You look hot." She said. I reddened but noticed she was saying I literally looked like I was burning to death. I quickly returned to my normal shade before Annabeth noticed me.

"Thanks, I thought maybe you liked me." I replied flirtatiously.

Flirtatiously? Sure, I thought Annabeth was cute when I first saw her, but did I like her more than a friend?

"I-I meant-"

"I know, I'm playing with you. Yeah, I'm kind of warm, but I'm not dying, otherwise is be on the ground probably shaking from heat stroke." I lied. Honestly, I felt like I could die any second.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good. If I was you, I would be dying." She said.

"Yeah, then I would call you hot, and not because you were sweating and warm." I smirked at her and entered the boys room.

What did I just say?

"Annabeth likes you dude. Like really likes you." Jason said from behind me.

"What? No, I don't think so."

"Do you like Annabeth?"

"Yes! I mean no." I threw my arms up in frustration.

"I don't know, I barely know her and I can't sort out my feelings right now. I don't know if I like her or not, let alone if she likes me." I stated.

"Believe me, I can tell she likes you, and it sure sounded like you liked her." He informed me.

"Oh no! Really? Do you think she thinks I like her?"

"I don't know dude but you better find out if you like her, you could be sending her misleading signs."

"She probably wouldn't want to go out with me anyway. What if she thinks I'm like the rest of the them? What if she thinks that I could do something like that to her?"

"Why are you so anxious about what she thinks about you?" I thought for a minute.

"Because you want her to see you as a good guy. In other words, you, like, her." Jason pointed at my chest and put emphasis on the three last words.

"Yeah, whatever."

"Oh, look. Now Percy's trying to hide his crush."

"Just get dressed Jason, unless of course, you want to walk out naked after the bell rings."

"I bet the girls would dig it." He joked.

"More like you'd make everyone uncomfortable, and you have a girlfriend sir."

"I'll be done, we have a few minutes after the bell."

"But I need to get to my next class early. I need an instrument."

"What do you play?" Jason asked, pulling on his shirt. I took off my gym shirt.

"Saxophone and drums."

"What's with the bruises?"

Crap.

"Street soccer. What else?"

"You get bruises on your chest and back from street soccer." I began to sweat.

"There are no penalties in street soccer."

"Yeah, okay."

"I'll have to show you some time. It can get pretty nasty. One of these days I might come to school with a black eye. People can be rough. At least in football there is padding. What do we get? Shin guards. No shin guards in street soccer though." I pulled off my pants and turned around.

"Dude. Your legs."

"People kick pretty hard."

"But these are wicked." I pulled on my pants.

"Nothing to worry about. Just some fútbol." I said with a Spanish accent. We finished dressing and locked our lockers. We walked out of the locker room and into the main gym.

"Percy, you should get those checked out."

"Nah, I got these three or four days ago." I lied. They had been there for about two weeks now.

"If they aren't better in a week you better get them checked." The bell rang and we walked out of the gym doors.

"They'll be gone." I replied. I need to be more careful. I couldn't let anyone else see. My mother's makeup will do the trick. My mother hadn't used makeup in years, but she had some stuff that could turn my skin into a bruised up mess, to a 'never been beaten in my life' look.

We walked into the band room and I saw Luke. Jason had left to get his instrument. I walked over to Luke who was surrounded by a few people.

"What you did was pretty low Luke." I said, interrupting his conversation.

"I can't say I know what you mean." He lied, a smile on his face.

"You know exactly what I mean Luke. The lies about Annabeth." He turned pink and waved his friends away.

"Look here Jackson. Those might have been lies, but no one will believe you. Want to know what else? You might want to hold onto Annabeth, because once I talk to her today, she's going to wish she had slept with me. I'll get her and she'll do anything I want. She'll think I changed but I'm still the same guy she knew during the summer. Once I do what I want, you can have her. I'll just make sure she knows what she's doing once you decide you want a go at her. I'm doing you a favor dude. It's not too late to be my friend, Percy. I'll even help you get her alone, once I'm done."

What he said sickened me, talking about Annabeth like that. He was a total pervert.

"She's too smart Luke. She won't trust you, and you'll never do anything while I'm around, you sick pig." I spat at him.

"So I guess this means you neglect my friendship. Oh well. More for me." He smiled, looking behind me.

"There she is now. You just wait and watch as she falls for me." He turned back towards his friends.

I gave his back a glare and walked over to the teacher.

"Hello. My name is Percy and-"

"You were the one I talked to over the summer. Nice to meet you Percy. Let's get you an instrument." We walked over to an area with many lockers for instruments.

"Here's a saxophone, you can try it out." He handed me a case and I took it out. I played but decided against the saxophone.

"How about a drum?"

"Of course." I threw the reed out for the saxophone and watched as Jason got up with his trumpet to go by Annabeth and Piper. No Luke. I turned my attention back towards the instructor. We walked over to the other side of the room and he had me play multiple drums. I stuck with the snare. We walked outside to the back of the building and I asked for the music. He told me to listen to the song we would be playing the first time through.

After listening, the band teacher gave me music and told me to go off and practice by myself. The rest of the band play a few more times through and split into groups, flutes, trumpets, clarinets, multiple others.

The director came over a few times to see if I needed help and helped me keep time. The bell rang and he have me a key and the number to a locker for my instrument.

"Percy?" I heard.

"Oh, hey Annabeth."

"I think I'm mentally challenged." Something's wrong.

"What? There is no way. I can tell you're one of the smartest people in our class, it just kind of radiates off of you." It was true, sure, I didn't have every class with her, but the classes that we were together, she had over excelled in.

"No, Percy I-"

"Annabeth." I tried to sound soothing. I turned and placed my hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes.

"You are not mentally challenge and to prove it-"

"I said I would go and get ice cream with Luke." Instantly, the smile I had been wearing fell off my face. I saw a movement behind her and watched as Luke was smiling at me from across the room. I glared at him. I tensed and gripped her shoulders, probably harder than I should have.

I couldn't let that thing be alone with Annabeth.

"And you came over here to ask me to come with you?" It was a question, but it came out like a demand.

"Percy you're a genius!" She yelled, hugging me. The yell actually took me off guard and I almost flinched. I looked at Luke, his smile now gone and was walking over. She pulled away from the hug and my face was red. I smiled and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Then I guess that makes you a mega genius." I replied with a laugh.

"You ready to go Annabeth? We are going to the one a few blocks away, so we can walk there." I looked behind Annabeth, Luke had finally join the party. I scowled at him.

"Actually Luke, I'm driving Annabeth." I said putting my arm around her shoulders protectively.

"I didn't invite you." Luke spat.

"But I did. We have a project to work on after this, and he is coming to my house." Annabeth lied. Luke was frustrated, but let it slip.

"Fine, see you there." He stomped off.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

"Yeah." If was I going to get my bike, Annabeth would have to stay here. I didn't want her meeting my step dad. She might also see that I was abused when I got home. That would be bad.

But my stupid mouth didn't realize that.

"Um...we're going to have to go to my house first." Great.

"Why?"

"Well you want to arrive in style, don't you?" I asked. She gave me a puzzled look.

We walked to my house, I was about ten minutes. I told her to stay on the sidewalk and I walked inside. I closed the door quietly. I went up the stairs and grabbed the keys off my dresser. In the other room, my stepfather mumbled in his sleep. As I was opening the door, it squeaked and I ran out into the front yard, slamming the door behind me.

I ran to my motorcycle but noticed I was missing something. I quickly walked over to my mom's store and opened the door.

"And here comes my son now." I saw my mom at the counter, like usual, but then standing in front of her, a familiar blonde girl was looking at the blue wall behind her.

"Annabeth?" I said.

"Percy? You're her son?"

"You two know each other?" My mom asked.

"We go to the same school mom. This is Annabeth."

"Well it's nice to meet you Annabeth. I'm Sally. It nice to know Percy made a friend on the first day."

"Okay, well mom, we're going to go." I only hoped she could see how urgent I was.

"Leaving so soon-"

"Sally!" My mom flinched and I sent her a empathetic look.

"Oh, look at the time. It was nice to meet you Annabeth. Percy." She gave me a look that said 'you need to take her and leave!'.

I took Annabeth's hand and pulled her out of the shop. I let her hand go when I neared my motorcycle, and handed her a helmet.

"Take this." I said.

"What's this for?" I stepped out of the way and revealed the motorcycle behind me. She looked at the bike.

"So your version of "going in style" is on a motorcycle." She asked. I smiled.

"Oh yeah. You're...okay with going on a motorcycle, right? I mean unless you want to walk or ride my skateboard."

"You skateboard?"

"Is that a yes or a no to the motorcycle?" She rolled her eyes and smiled at me.

"Sure." I helped a stubborn Annabeth get the helmet on, and hopped on my bike. I gestured for her to sit down but I could tell she was a little nervous as soon as her arms wrapped around my stomach tightly. I laughed.

"Don't worry Annabeth. We aren't going to get hit."

"You never know. Have you ever had anyone else on the back of one of these before." She asked.

I thought back to when I first let a girl on my bike.

Calypso loved to let her hair run wild as we rode.

"Yeah." I sighed, started it up and driving off. We were at the ice cream shop in no time. Luke had just gotten there with a red head. Rachel. They watched us as we drove into the parking lot and Annabeth and I got off my motorcycle. I saw Rachel give a look to Luke and Luke looked straight at me, his fist clenched and ready to fight. I put on a smile.

Annabeth pulled off my helmet and gave it to me. I placed it on the handlebars.

"You're not going to take it in?" She asked.

"Nah, I barely use it. Who's going to steal it anyway? If it is taken...well, it's more fun when you don't have one on." I smiled, but then thought back to Calypso. We walked over to the pair of walkers and went in. Annabeth sat down first, Luke sat right next to her. That meant I had to sit by Rachel. Annabeth knew I was uncomfortable sitting next to Rachel. I turned and found Rachel watching me, biting her lip.

A young girl with black hair and green eyes walked over and took our orders.

When she left, the table was quiet except for the red headed girl sitting next to me, who was giggling and poking my arm. I would pull away but she didn't get the picture.

Maybe she did but didn't care.

Either way, it was annoying.

The waitress came back and released me from Rachel by giving us our ice cream.

I order cookie dough, one of my favorites, Annabeth had cookie and cream, another one of my favorites, Luke had mint chocolate chip, and Rachel had some red ice cream. Probably strawberry, but that was more pink while this was more crayon red.

The whole time we were eating, it was quiet. Then Luke had to open his mouth.

"So Annabeth, I wanted to ask you...if maybe you wanted to do this again...just the two of us." Luke smiled at her.

"I don't know Luke."

"I already told you that everyone is going to know it's a lie, you can trust me." I laughed and everyone turned their heads to look at me as I finished my ice cream.

"What's so funny?" Luke snarled. He knew exactly what I was laughing at.

"You really think Annabeth wants anything to do with you? Why would she? Considering what you did to her? Yeah, I know the truth of what happened that night, she told me, but that's beside the point. Why would she want to date you after knowing what you did? Do you really think she is dumb enough to fall for you just so you can do it again?" Luke stood up and grabbed my collar. I didn't even flinch. I was used to this already.

"Watch your tongue if you want to keep it."

"You call that a threat?" I replied sassily. Luke swung at me but missed because I flinched, just getting out of his reach. My eyes were wide for a second but then the environment change.

My stepfather stood over me and was about to hit me. He had Luke's eyes, and a huge swinging fist. I closed my eyes and I was back in the ice cream shop. Luke was about to hit me when I grabbed his arm and twisted it, just like I had done to my stepfather this morning. I pulled him over my shoulder and he flew for a second, before falling in the ground. Annabeth stepped between the two of us.

"What is wrong with you two?" She screamed. Luke got up from the floor and ran at Annabeth, but before I could do anything Rachel gripped my shirt and kissed me. I tried to get away, to help Annabeth, but Rachel used her body weight to make me fall backwards, her on top of me, onto the bench of the booth we were sitting at.

I heard a crash, like glass smashing and I tried to push Rachel off me.

Annabeth was in trouble and I had to help her.

Suddenly Rachel was harshly pulled off of me and she screamed. Rachel grabbed Annabeth's arm and Annabeth retaliated by grabbing Rachel's arm and twisted it. She dropped Rachel on top of Luke and I realized the waitress was standing a little bit away from the pair on the floor. For only a second, she was shocked, but she soon replaced that look for a smile.

"You're okay. I'll let you guys go. It wasn't you're fault. It was all theirs. I take it you want them to have the bill?" Did I hear her right? I snapped out of my own shock.

"Yes, please." I replied.

"Thankfully, I was the only one out here and there wasn't any other customers. Otherwise...anyway, you should go." The waitress said. Her green eyes glowed and I was surprised that she wasn't freaking out. Now that I think about it, she looked like me. Black hair, green eyes, facial structure. That mischievous smile that I had used so many times.

"What if they tell the manager? I mean they still know what happened, and there is all of this proof on the floor." Glass was everywhere. Tables and chair were knocked over. It was a mess.

"I am the manager here. Don't worry, they won't tell anyone. I promise they won't say a word." That mischievous smile still played on her lips. She stepped towards Annabeth and touched her face. Annabeth lifted her hand to her face.

How was she be the manager? She was around my age. Maybe even a year younger. I snapped out of it.

"Thank you." I said. I watched as Annabeth walked out of the door, walking quickly. I ran outside and called out to her.

"Annabeth!" I yelled.

"No Percy."

"Annabeth, what's wrong?"

"You, is what's wrong. How could you kiss Rachel?"

"What? She kissed me, I didn't kiss her. I never wanted to."

"Then why did I find you two in the booth?"

"She tackled me. Literally. I think she might have played football before." I wanted her to laugh and so she would be mad but she took it the wrong way.

"This isn't a joke Percy!" She yelled at me.

"I'm not joking. I didn't want to kiss her! If there was anyone here I wanted to kiss..." I stopped. Did I mean what I was going to say? What I wanted to say.

"Who!? Who would you want to kiss!?" She was definitely angry, but I grabbed her shoulders, and looked into her eyes anyway, I softened my eyes so they were no longer filled with rage.

"You Annabeth! I don't love Rachel, I love...I love you." I closed my eyes, getting the realization of what I had said to Annabeth.

Jason was right. I liked her. No, loved her. I turned away from Annabeth, my eyes still closed, waiting for her reaction.

I got ready for a fist in the face, but it never came.

"I'm sorry Percy. I don't know why I blew up at you. It wasn't your fault, I just...got a little jealous of Rachel kissing you. I'm sorry." She turned away and my heart skipped a beat.

She had admitted she was jealous when Rachel had kissed me.

So...she liked me?

I grabbed Annabeth's hand and I turned her towards me, lifting her chin in the process. She looked into my eyes.

I felt like screaming. My heart was beating at a thousand miles per hour and I was scared of what I was going to say next, more importantly, what Annabeth would do next.

Instead, I let my racing heart speak.

"You can't be jealous if you have done it too." I lowered my head and pressed my lips to hers. I expected a punch in the gut, but instead, I found her hands floating up and gracing me neck, resting there. I placed one of my hands on her hip, the other securing her back. I felt her hand move up my neck and to my hair.

Fireworks.

It felt so right to kissing Annabeth, like it was meant for me to kiss her.

Rachel on the other hand, I felt like I was kissing an old rag.

I didn't want to, but I pulled away, the imaginary fireworks still making my lips tingle. I rested my forehead on hers and closed my eyes.

"Sorry, I know you must be uncomfortable, with what you've been through." I said apologetically.

"But none of that felt like this before." She said. I wanted to jump up excited, but then thought she might not be thinking what I was thinking. Did she hate my kiss? I looked at her confused.

"What?"

"Nothing I have been through felt right, nothing had ever made me feel..." She stopped mid-sentence trying to find the right word.

"Loved?" I asked. There was probably a better word but that's all I could think of.

"Yeah." She said. I smiled at her.

"Well, if you want a ride home, my bike is that way." I pointed over to my bike behind me.

"Actually, I think we have some unfinished business to take care of at school." I have her another confused look. We drove to school and Annabeth gave me the tour I had totally forgotten about.

"Hey Percy, I wanted to ask you something."

"Hmm?"

"I didn't tell you that Luke had lied about what really happened, how did you know?"

"Jason told me."

"Thank you Jason."

"I heard my name." We turned to find Jason and Piper walking towards us.

I could have sworn I saw Piper wink to Annabeth out of the corner of my eye.

"You told Percy the truth about what happened."

"Oh yeah. Piper told me that the three of us had gym together and once I saw Percy had it too, I decided to tell him because he was probably going to be hanging out with us since Percy and I are already friends. Then I found out you guys knew each other, so...yeah. I guess it worked out."

"So what are you guys doing here so late?" I asked.

"Just some stuff for soccer, Piper was watching me."

"Do what?" Annabeth asked.

"I was in the weight room."

"Oh."

"You're going about it all wrong Jason. You don't have to lift for soccer. It's not football, it's fútbol." Everyone turned to me, giving me strange looks.

Did I accidentally say that in Greek?

"Uh..." A puzzled Jason said.

"You don't have to push a two hundred fifty pound guy like in football. I mean, it's okay to lift, but you don't have to do it for two hours just to stay in shape for soccer. You would be better off just doing some drills, stretching and running, put some planks in there somewhere and some other stomach and leg strengthening exercises, but you don't have to lift like you're going to be pushing someone back." Silence all around.

"Coach Hedge did say you were good at soccer." Jason finally broke the silence.

"I'm okay." I shrugged.

"He said you are great. Amazing actually."

"That's because I actually tried to play while everyone else kind of stood there."

"Alright, I can tell you're being modest about it. So why are you guys here?"

"I was giving Percy a tour of the school liked he asked." Annabeth replied.

"For two hours?" Piper asked, she wiggled her eyebrows at Annabeth.

"No, first we had ice cream with Luke and Rachel."

"Ugh, what did they want." Jason asked.

"To kiss us first off." I said. Annabeth nudged me lightly, playfully and laughed.

"Then Annabeth grabbed a glass cup off a table and ninja smashed it on Luke's head. After that, she saw that I was a damsel in distress," I dramatically pretended to smack into a locker nearby and held a hand to my head, as if I was in, well...distress.

"And pulled Rachel's hair so hard I thought maybe it would have ripped out of her head."

"And you guys got out okay? No one called the cops?"

"There was no one else there. Only the waitress that was serving us saw it. She saw the whole thing and let Percy and I go." Annabeth informed them.

"Cool waitress." Jason said.

"She made them pay the bill too." I added.

"Percy, I should probably go. I have homework and my parents are probably wondering where I-" I heard the buzzing of a phone and Annabeth brought her phone out of her pocket. She looked at the screen.

"That's them now. Hello?" She asked, answering the phone. I could barely hear what was being said.

"Annabeth, where have you been!? Get home this instant."

"Fine." She hung up the phone.

"That was harsh." I said.

"That was my stepmother."

"Oh, okay never mind then. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"We'll walk with you guys."

"Actually, Percy drove us here." Annabeth said.

"Well we can walk out with you, we have to leave anyway." We got to the parking lot and I walked towards my bike, Annabeth close behind. Piper and Jason had looks on their faces that said they couldn't believe that the motorcycle was mine. It was almost brand new. Not a scratch on it.

Truthfully, it was only a year or so old. Calypso convinced me to buy it because I really liked it. I still did, but it brought back memories of my last girlfriend.

The one that I loved but pushed away so she wouldn't find out my secret of how I would get beaten when I got home.

Our last conversation wasn't a pleasant one.

I started my motorcycle and Annabeth put on her helmet. As I pulled away, we waved goodbye to Jason and Piper. Annabeth told me the directions to her house as I drove. I let her off at her house and got off myself. I walked her to the door.

"So...good first day?" She asked me.

"Well, I did make some friends and an enemy or two. I guess that counts as a good day. You?"

"Yes and no. The whole thing with Luke really made it bad but..."

"Yes?"

"I made a new friend today but he turned out to be something else." She sounded disappointed.

"Did he hurt you? Who is he?" I asked.

"He turned out to be my new best friend." Annabeth kissed me on the lips and went into her house.

"Yes!" I yelled to no one. I walked towards my bike and my cell phone went off and I saw it was my mom.

"Hey mom, okay, so you know the girl I brought home, Annabeth? Yeah she kissed me. Isn't that great!" I heard a sniff in the background.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I quickly walked over to my motorcycle.

"Percy. Just come home, please, you need to hurry, were leaving-" I heard a scream coming from inside of Annabeth's house.

"Oh no, Annabeth! Mom I-" I was distracted by a familiar car. I looked at the license plate and it matched what I was looking for.

"Mom, it's him. It's Gabe."

"Percy, leave, do not go by your stepfather."

"He is with Annabeth, mom. I can't leave without her."

"Percy...be careful..." I ran to Annabeth's door.

"Don't worry, if I don't come back alive, you can kill me. Bye." I open the door slowly and found Annabeth on the floor gagged, tied, and crying.

* * *

 _ **MAJOR CLIFFY!** **Review your reactions!**_

 _ **Question of the chapter: How do you think I should put the other characters in?**_

 _ **I have some ideas but I want to hear it from you guys.**_

 _ **Not much left to say.**_

 _ **K, bye~ VictoryD**_


	3. Day 1, part 3

_**Hey guys. Sorry for the late update...again. I've been really busy. Band, practice for band, something was up with my sister. Oh, and I went to 6 flags! If you've never been there or don't know what it is, it's a roller coaster/amusement park/water park place, and some of the rides are named after superheroes like the 'Superman', there are 2 batman rides, but you have to go on Raging Bull if you go there and 'Superman', maybe Goliath too, but it has a very long line. It was pretty fun and I went really early so the line for Goliath wasn't that long, so we had to wait like 45 minutes rather than 95. I went with a friend too, yes, I have friends.**_

 _ **My sister got her license today. That isn't a good thing though. I'm scared to ride with her when my mom or dad is there, just imagine only the two of us. *Shudders* Anyway, Thanks to;**_

 _ **My followers: HispanicThug, greekgeekgirlbro, HispanicThug(I think you've followed me multiple times already, but I liked to be loved so I'll put it up again), and HispanicThug. For the third time. I feel loved guys! *Happy tears fall from face* At least by HispanicThug. Everyone else, step up your game, jk, I'm kidding.**_

 ** _My favorites:_** ** _greekgeekgirlbro_**

 ** _My story followers: Luesol, jso3647, Vegetaisabadass, those-that-wander, s693221, emilianolorenzo1, Nerdy pandas forever, Rowel. Reyna. 14, Percabeth8899, PUGA1414, sunnykaren1, mariaclara1400, jmslunsford, jadejackson44, ExpertNewbs,_** ** _greekgeekgirlbro_**

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 _ **The Reviewers! (Really, thanks to those who actually do it and don't just read it. It keeps me going):**_

 _ **jso3647: I didn't answer it in this chapter but I will.**_

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 ** _sunnykaren1: Thank you. I'm glad you like it._**

 ** _pjojellybeans/CrazyPeopleLikeMe: I guess you'll just have to find out. *evil grin* Also, thank you for your ideas, YOU GOT TO KNOW HOW THE OTHER CHARACTERS COME IN. Sorry, I wanted people to see this and be jealous of you._**

 ** _XxDarkDalekXx: Thank you for sharing your ideas with me, AND YOU WERE REWARDED WITH HOW THE OTHER CHARACTERS COME INTO THE STORY! Sorry, I just wanted other people to see this and be jealous of you because you info on the story and not them because THEY DIDN'T GIVE SUGGESTIONS LIKE YOU! Okay I'm done now._**

 ** _PunksNotDeadYouAre: Thank you also for giving me your ideas. YOU WERE ALSO REWARED THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THE CHARACTERS COME IN! Sorry, I wanted others to see this and to be jealous of you too._**

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 ** _*SIGH* Now with much pain in my aching back and stressful day, here is chapter 3 of "Love is Free, not Bought"!_**

* * *

Chapter 3.

~Annabeth's pov~

Percy came through the door. He found me, tears streaming down my face, arms and legs tied up. He shushed me and wiped my tears. He pulled the gag out of my mouth.

"I'll get you out of here. I just need you to work with me. Where's Gabe?" He said the man's name with such disgust.

"My bedroom. He-he said he w-was getting ready." I broke down into tears. Percy kissed my forehead and hushed me.

"Stay here." He put the gag back in my mouth and I mumbled for him to come back.

That's when I heard the heavy footsteps.

"Alright you devil girl. Come with me." The man picked me up so I was on his shoulder, my feet by his front half and my head at his back. I looked at Percy who was hiding in the kitchen. He crept up the stairs behind us, the drunk man carrying me unaware of him following us. I watched Percy as he followed us, my heart beating fast from the situation I was in. Percy grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes, almost telling me that he won't fail me now. At the top of the stairs, the man almost fell back down, but somehow managed to stay up.

He went into my room and threw me on the bed. I felt something hit my back when I landed. I looked behind me and found something I had never experienced before.

Chains.

I began to panic. What if the man knocked out Percy, my only way of escape?

"See what you did you stupid girl? You gave me this!" I saw a red scratch on the side of his face. Blood produced from the ripped flesh.

"Now you'll pay." He said, leaning down. His stinky mouth was an inch away from mine.

Where was Percy?

I spit in the man's face and head butted him, he retreated.

"Ugh! You stupid, stupid...idiotic girl." He bellowed.

"She's not stupid or idiotic, you are! Now, don't you dare touch my Wise Girl!" Percy yelled. Gabe (that must have been his name since that's what percy called him) didn't even have time to turn around before Percy whacked him in the head with a beer bottle, probably from my kitchen. Gabe fell forward, but Percy grabbed him before he fell on top of me. I rolled off my bed and Percy dropped Gabe, as if totally forgotten as he hit the floor with a thud. He came over to me, concern clear on his face.

"I'm sorry I took so long. I just had to wait for the right moment." He said as he pulled the gag out of my mouth for the second time today. He pulled out a knife and started cutting the rope keeping my arms and legs tied together.

"It's fine. As long as I didn't have to go through with that. Thank you." He cut me free of my bondages. He looked into my eyes.

"No problem. Come on, grab a bag. Pack some stuff, were leaving." He commanded me.

"Wh-what?"

"I'm not leaving you here Annabeth. If your family put you up to this-"

"It was my stepmom, no one else knows." I stood up and walked to my closet, pulling out two bags. I didn't disagree with him when he said we were going to leave, I just stated the facts of the situation.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not letting you stay here when-what are you doing?"

"I didn't argue with you. I'm not staying here. I just told you who's fault this really is." He walked over to the window.

"No one yet, but we need to hurry."

"Top shelf, there are more bags. On the floor in the back are two suitcases. One is inside the other-wait, we are riding on your motorcycle." Percy walked over to the closet and got everything I asked for out.

"What are you-"

"How do you think he got here?" Percy walked over to Gabe and took the keys off his belt. He shook them so they clanked together.

"Where should I start?" He asked.

"Get everything in the closet in the suitcases, then get the things in that dresser, start from the bottom and make your way up. I don't even care if it's a mess for me to clean later."

About half an hour later everything was packed. Books, clothes, all the countless other things in

my room. I went into the bathroom and got a fresh toothbrush, a brush, and other toiletries. I went in my parent's room and went in my stepmom's dresser. I took about seven hundred dollars but decided to take the rest of the cash. I stuffed it in my pocket and walked back into my room. I put everything I had collected into yet another bag and Percy looked out of the window.

"Someone's here." I walked over to the window and saw my stepmother pulling into the driveway. The sun had gone down so it would be easy for us to sneak away.

"Back window." I told Percy. He used a sheet to get down and I began throwing my stuff out of the window.

"Annabeth?" I only had one thing left to throw. I pushed it out. I decide to grab the sheets on my bed and threw them down as well. I heard footsteps, she was coming up the stairs.

"Jump, I'll catch you." Percy commanded me.

"Are you insane?"

"Maybe..."

"That's reassuring."

"I will catch you, I promise." I took one foot off the windowsill.

"Swear on the River Styx."

"What is the-nevermind, I swear on the River Styx."

"Annabeth, are you up?" I heard my stepmother say. Her tone was devious and mocking, she didn't care for me at all. I wouldn't let her see me. She didn't deserve to see me after all she did to me. She wasn't worthy. I jumped forward.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four seconds I was in the air.

Five seconds and I was safe in Percy's warm arms, which wrapped around me, protecting me from the cool breeze. He buried his head in my hair.

"Annabeth!" Was heard up above in my room, followed by a gasp.

"We should go." Percy said putting me down. He picked up most of my things and ran to a car, I picked up the rest of my stuff and followed him. He took the things from me and put them in the car.

"Here, take my bike."

"Wh-what?"

"I don't think you want to drive this car." He said.

"Okay, fine." I turned to run.

"Annabeth?" I turned.

"You have driven a motorcycle before, right?"

"My dad has a motorcycle and he taught me, but no." I turned again.

"Annabeth." I was frustrated now. I wanted to leave this place, it was full of bad memories. I turned and Percy's lips meet mine. I felt the fireworks again and butterflies flew around in my stomach. He pulled away, in my opinion, too early.

"I-I'm sorry." He got in the car and I stood there paralyzed for a minute. I ran to the motorcycle and started it up. My hand flew to my lips, they tingled. A smile found its way across my face and I followed Percy as he drove to his house. Percy's mother was waiting when we got there.

"Percy! Thank goodness you're okay. Annabeth, I hope you're in even better shape." She said as she hugged Percy.

"Yes, no harm done."

"Mom, Annabeth can't go home."

"I can't think of a better place she could be. Did you even offer for her to stay here?"

"Annabeth, would you like to stay here?" He asked, turning towards me.

"Your mom said it, there isn't a better place I could be."

"Well you two must be hungry." She walked into the house, looking down the street before entering.

"Sorry for the mess. My...husband had a tantrum before he left." The house itself was nice. Beautiful even except for the trash and items thrown all over the place.

"Mom, we packed up Annabeth's room. Everything is in the car." Percy whispered, obviously trying to keep it a secret from me.

"That bad? Go get her things, if he comes back for the car, she won't have anything." She whispered back. Percy stepped to the side and let me pass. I made eye contact with him as I passed. He smiled at me, I returned it and watched him walk out of the door.

Sally went to the kitchen. She dug around in the refrigerator and told me I could take a seat at the island table.

"I can make spaghetti..." She searched around in the kitchen for food.

"That will do, thank you." She began her work.

"Percy must like you a lot."

"What? No, we're just friends...I was the first friend he made."

The door opened and Percy walked through, carrying some of my bags, and walking up a staircase.

"When Percy was young he didn't have many friends. Never brought anyone home, never went to visit anyone's house, just came straight home after school. When people saw he could play soccer, the girls were all over him, the guys wanted to be his friend. Percy however, saw through them. He is a good judge of character." Percy came down the stairs and back outside.

"He let you ride his motorcycle too. He never let Calypso do that."

"Calypso?"

"His old girlfriend."

"Oh."

"He told me that she asked once, he made an excuse of course. I doubt he would let me ride on it, although it's not my style and he probably wouldn't want me to get hurt."

"He didn't want me to take the car." Sally was quiet for a minute. She looked at the food, a frown on her face. She looked up with a smile.

"I find it quite incredible that you don't see Percy's concern and interest in you." This caught me off guard.

"What was in that car that he didn't want me to see?" Percy walked in and we both turned towards him. He was startled when he saw us looking at him. He stopped, looked between the two of us, then walked to the stairs, still watching us with a puzzled look on his face. When Sally was sure he had left, she continued.

"Maybe you just mean more to him than Calypso." She didn't answer my question.

"What about Calypso?" A voice said from the stairs.

"Nothing. Just telling Annabeth about your old girlfriend."

"Ugh, how much did you tell her?" Percy asked, sitting down at the island table.

"Don't worry, Seaweed Brain, nothing embarrassing. Just that you had a girlfriend named Calypso."

"Hmm." Sally laughed.

"What?" Percy asked.

"What a cute little nickname." I blushed, Percy did the same, but more out of embarrassment.

"What else did she tell you? About Ca-Calypso." He stuttered.

"Nothing, just that you had a girlfriend." He seemed to swallow a lump in his throat.

"Oh. Okay. I guess I should get the rest of the stuff then." He got up and went outside.

"He doesn't want you to know about his ex-girlfriend. How cute, he gets embarrassed around you."

"What are you saying ?" I asked nicely.

"Oh, don't listen to me, I'm just a babbling older lady, but I think Percy might see you as one day being more than a friend." I turned even more red than before.

Was I the only one not able to see it? Piper had told me that Percy liked me, Percy's mom, Sally, almost seemed eager for me to be his girlfriend.

Surely the kisses Percy had given me today weren't brotherly kisses. They were amazing, the feeling of his lips on mine was too good for words.

And he had kissed me multiple times today. I just didn't know if I could go through with it.

Sure, Percy seemed nice. His mother was just as caring, so he was probably taught well, but after what I had gone through today, I was frightened. Of all men. What if Percy was just like them? What if he seemed nice but hurt me? Or what if he just wants to get close to me so he can do what the other men almost did? Now that I was at his house, he would be at the advantage.

No Percy isn't like that. He always said sorry after he kissed me, knowing I was uncomfortable with the situation. Right on cue. Percy walked through the door, carrying my suitcases. He dragged them up the stairs and came back down.

See, he was nice. He brought all of my things from my room into his house with no help or asking anyone to help him. He is also keeping me safe from my crazy stepmother.

He sat at the table again and rested his head on the table.

"Percy, this is a table. Not a pillow. I'm making food." Percy pulled up his head and smiled sheepishly at his mom. He rubbed his forehead, then brushed back his wild black hair before getting up and laying on the couch. I watched him snuggle into the cushions and close his beautiful green eyes, his long eyelashes fluttering as they touched each other. I watched him and felt a slight nudge on my arm.

I turned to find Sally with a mischievous smile on her face, one eyebrow raised and gesturing to go by Percy. She winked and pulled a pot out from a cabinet. I got up and walked over to Percy. I sat in the recliner near Percy's head and used my finger to brush some of his hair out of his face. His eyes opened and focused on me.

"Hey Wise Girl."

"Hey Seaweed Brain."

"What's up?"

"Thank you. For everything. From the beginning of the day. For being at the door so I smacked into you, for watching out for me, for being my friend even though people said some lies that you totally could have believed." I looked at the floor.

"No problem. Besides, I like to hear it from the person that is being talked about, to see if it's true. Lies can get ugly and gets people nowhere." I smiled, looking up.

"Why do you have to be such a dang perfect guy." He smiled and winked, still resting his head on his pillow.

"Just a natural charmer." We laughed and I could have sworn I saw Sally smile from the corner of my eye.

We stared into each other's eyes and I grabbed his hand. I could feel Percy's eyes on me as I looked at our intertwined hands. We stayed there until Sally told us it was time to eat. We eat in silence for the most part. A few questions of how the first day went came up.

"This is delicious . Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks mom." Percy said.

"You don't have to call me , Annabeth. It's weird. Just call me Sally." I almost asked why but saw the humor in her eyes. She looked between me and Percy. Then tapped her left ring finger on the table.

She thought one day I would be the next ' '.

To my surprise, I didn't choke on my food or think it strange that she thought of me as her future daughter-in-law, but blushed and gave a light laugh. I couldn't make eye contact with Percy, but I did anyway.

I looked up and watched as Percy stuffed a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth, totally oblivious to conversation his mother and I were having. As he slurped the noodles into his mouth, sauce flew and landed on his cheek. I laughed and he looked at me.

"Hey Percy, stay still." I grabbed a napkin and cleaned Percy's face of the sauce.

"Uh, thanks." Percy said, blushing so bright, he had turned redder than the sauce. I smiled and finished my food.

"Do you want some more, Annabeth?" Sally asked.

"Oh, no. I'm alright."

"Okay. Percy, when you finish, why don't you show Annabeth where she will be sleeping."

"Sure, why not."

"Do you need help with the dishes?" I asked.

"No, there aren't many. It's getting late anyway. You two should get ready for bed soon." Percy finished and grabbed both my plate and his own, then brought them to the sink. He wiped his mouth, kissed his mom on the cheek and we headed up the stairs. We entered a room, the walls were painted blue and my bags and suitcases were in a spot in the corner, out of the way.

"Okay, so the guest room wasn't set up so you'll be staying in my room tonight. I'll be sleeping down stairs on the couch to make sure nothing happens-I mean, so if you need anything you'll know where to-"

"Percy, could you stay with me, up here?" As soon as I said it, I wanted to slap myself.

"Uh...sure. You can have the bed, I'll be by the end of the bed so don't step on me during the night." He sounded uncertain.

"No, I mean, could you sleep with me?"

"Uh, are you sure you want to-"

"You do know what I mean right. Just-"

"Yeah, yeah, of course. I just don't want to have my nose broken in the middle of the night if I move and startle you."

The room right then and there got awkward.

"So I'll go get another pillow and..."

"Yeah..." I replied. He grabbed some stuff from a drawer of his and left the room. I couldn't believe what I had just asked of Percy.

Maybe it seemed strange to my brain, but my heart said something different. His warm arms around me, protecting me after falling from my windowsill. His soft lips on mine after the ice cream shop, at my house, and in the street before leaving my house. He was very comforting. Percy came back with his pajamas on, dark blue pajama pants and a white tee shirt, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth. He tossed a pillow on the bed and I placed it next to the other one. He had a small bed, a twin, but it looked long enough to keep his feet from hanging off the bed.

He exited the room and I grabbed a pair of pajamas from one of my bags, along with a toothbrush. A light blue tank top with a green shirt to cover it, and long, gray pajama pants. Percy came back into the room and showed me to the bathroom. I changed and brushed my teeth. When I got back into his room, Percy was sitting on the bed.

"Are you sure you want me to...you know, sleep with you tonight? I drool horribly." I wanted to say no but my heart prevented me.

"Yes. Please?" He sighed but smiled.

"Love the colors by the way."

"What?"

"Blue is my favorite color. That shirt looks like the color of my eyes and the gray from your pants mirrors your eyes perfectly."

It was true, the color of my shirt was the exact color of his sea green eyes.

I yawned, Percy returned it.

"So shall we?" I asked.

"I guess." He got up and pulled the covers down. He walked over to the other side and I got in. Percy got in next, his warmth immediately making me shudder.

"Wh-what's wrong?"

"You're warm." I said.

"Do you want another blanket?" Just as I was about to snuggle in, Percy got out of his bed and stood up.

"Percy, why are you so nervous? It's not like we are going to do anything." He exhaled and paced near the bed.

"I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable with all the events that happened to you today." I grabbed Percy's hand and he looked me in the eye.

"Percy, please. I'll be fine, just sleep." I told him. He closed his eyes and shook his head, but slowly made his way back into the bed.

Next to him, I stretched and turned towards Percy, placing my hand on his chest.

"A-are you sure you don't want the blanket?"

"Nope. This is perfectly fine." I said bringing my hands up and wrapping them around his neck.

"O-okay." I felt his hands touch my back and I shook. Percy stopped and pulled his hands back.

"No, put them there." He hesitated but put them on my back, bring me closer.

"I think I owe you something." I said.

"What do you-" I cut him off with a kiss.

"You gave me two kisses, now I gave you my second. Don't think you can start giving all the first kisses, Seaweed Brain." I put my head in his chest and fell asleep to his natural smell. Sea salt.

But not before I heard him say something.

He brought his chin to my forehead, I was on the edge of consciousness and unconscious. I tightened my grip, hoping he would stay. I felt him twirling a strand of my hair.

Then he said something I didn't have the guts to say.

"I'm never giving up on you Annabeth. I promise." He kissed my forehead and I smiled slightly.

"I...I love you."

~Percy's pov~

I cautiously stepped into the house and closed the door quietly. The first thing I saw was Annabeth on the floor, thankfully with her clothes on. Tears were spilling down her face and her arms and leg were tied. I made sure no one else was in the room and stepped over to her. I kneeled down, shushed her and wiped her tears. I pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"I'll get you out of here. I just need you to work with me. Where's Gabe." I put as much disgust into his name as I could.

"My bedroom. He-he said he w-was getting ready." She stuttered, as tears poured down her face. Before I knew what I was doing, I kissed Annabeth's forehead and hushed her again. I heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Stay here." I put the gag back into her mouth and I heard her mumble. I hid in the kitchen and looked around for something to cut the rope on Annabeth's wrists and ankles. Her eyes widened when she heard the footsteps. I silently looked in the drawers, desperate to find a knife or pair of scissors.

"Alright you devil girl. Come with me." I saw Gabe grab Annabeth harshly and carry her over his shoulder. If her feet weren't bound, she probably could have kicked him in the face.

Then again, if she wasn't bound, she could have run out of the house and away from the smelly creep.

I found a knife and I saw Annabeth look into the kitchen, eyes still wide. As I was coming out of the kitchen to follow them, I found a bottle of beer on the table. I walked up the stairs behind them. Gabe was way too drunk to even hear me walking after him.

Annabeth looked at me again, her breathing jagged and staggered. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and looked into her eyes. I could tell she was frightened. I tried to tell her that I would do whatever I needed to do to get her out of this with my eyes. At the top of the stairs, Gabe almost fell back and trampled me, but he regained his balance.

I honestly didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Pro: He probably could have knocked himself out.

Con: Annabeth or I could have gotten hurt.

I followed him until he went into a room. I stayed in the dark hallway to hide. I watched him throw Annabeth onto her bed and watched as she landed right on top of some chains.

He really didn't want her to get away. Just like he did with me, but when he hit me.

I was all too familiar with these chains. He would lock you up tightly, leaving bruises on your ankles and wrists. He would chain you to the floor and stand over you, laughing, punch after punch, cut after cut, until you couldn't take it anymore. Until you were near death.

I could see a new fear enter Annabeth's eyes.

"See what you did you stupid girl? You gave me this!" I watched as Gabe turned his head and saw multiple red scratches with blood dripping from them.

"Now you'll pay." Gabe said. He leaning down and closed his eyes. I made my way into the room, right behind him. I lifted the bottle but quickly pulled it back as his head came back up quickly. Too quickly.

I had heard a sound as if someone had spit and then a loud "knock" sound, like someone hitting something, like two hard heads smacking into each other.

"Ugh! You stupid, stupid, idiotic girl." Gabe roared. I grew furious. How dare he say anything like that to Annabeth. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, while Annabeth was the smartest one in this room.

This was my moment to strike. But I almost couldn't do it. He would always come back for me, hurt me even worse than he had ever done before. I could almost see him grabbing a knife and stabbing at me, just like he had done before, this time, not letting me off easy. I could see him breaking my leg again, the first time almost resulted in me not being allowed to play soccer, ever again.

But this was for Annabeth. She was caught in the middle of this and I couldn't let her down. I couldn't.

I can't.

"She's not stupid or idiotic, you are! Now, don't you dare touch my Wise Girl!" I yelled.

The nickname was awful, but at least it was better than "smart girl".

Did I say "my"? As in MY Wise Girl, MY Annabeth?

Before Gabe could turn, I smashed the beer bottle into Gabe's head. It was so easy to do it too. If I would have been looking him in the eyes, I probably wouldn't be able to knock him out. He probably would have hit me and punched me, either until I was knocked out, or told me I was useless, stupid, a weakling, for not being able to hit him and fight like a man.

He always did and I believed every word.

He began to fall forward but I grabbed him before he landed on Annabeth. I let go of him as soon as he was falling another way and watched as Annabeth rolled off her bed. I nearly tripped as I made my way to Annabeth, worry shown on my face.

"I'm sorry I took so long. I just had to wait for the right moment." I pulled the gag out of her mouth and took the knife out of my back pocket. I started cutting at the ropes that looked tight on her wrists and ankles.

I noticed that her ankles and wrists looked like mine whenever Gabe would tie me up and beat me. In other words, it's not a pretty look.

"It's fine. As long as I didn't have to go through with that. Thank you." I cut all the ropes and looked into her eyes.

"No problem. Come on, grab a bag. Pack some stuff, were leaving." I told her. I had to take her with me. There was no way I was leaving her here where she could get hurt.

"Wh-what?"

"I'm not leaving you here Annabeth. If your family put you up to this-"

"It was my stepmom, no one else knows." She stood and walked away. At first I thought she was going downstairs but she went to her closet. She got out two bags.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not letting you stay here when-what are you doing?" I asked.

"I didn't argue with you. I'm not staying here. I just told you who's fault this really is." I walked to the window to see if anyone pulled in the driveway.

"No one yet, but we need to hurry."

"Top shelf, there are more bags. On the floor in the back are two suitcases. One is inside the other-wait, we are riding on your motorcycle." I got all the things Annabeth had asked for, and pulled them out of the closet.

"What are you-"

"How do you think he got here?" I walked over to the unconscious man and took the keys off his belt. I made them jiggle and clank together.

"Where should I start?" I asked.

"Get everything in the closet in the suitcases, then get the things in that dresser, start from the bottom and make your way up. I don't even care if it's a mess for me to clean later."

It took half an hour, but we finished packing up her room. Annabeth left and came back a minute later with a toothbrush, a hair brush, and a small bag of other girl necessities. She stuffed it all in another bag. There was easily more than twenty bags, and some of the bags were huge. I looked outside, it was dark out and I watched as a car came pulling in to Annabeth's driveway.

"Someone's here." Annabeth walked over and stood next to me at the window.

"Back window." I grabbed a sheet and lowered myself down, into Annabeth's back yard. Annabeth began tossing her things out of the window, where I caught them.

"Annabeth?" I heard from inside of the house. Annabeth pushed another bag out of the window and threw down her sheets. Annabeth was by the window, a panicked look on her face. Her stepmom was coming up the stairs.

"Jump, I'll catch you."

"Are you insane?" She asked.

"Maybe..." I admitted.

"That's reassuring."

"I will catch you, I promise." Annabeth took one foot off the windowsill. Then she hesitated.

"Swear on the River Styx."

"What is the-nevermind, I swear on the River Styx." I said.

"Annabeth, are you up?" I wanted to climb back up there as soon as I heard her stepmother's voice. Her voice was teasing. She believed Annabeth had been taken advantage of, so she used a mocking tone to make fun of her. I didn't even see Annabeth jump off, all I saw a fast movement coming towards me from above and I got to the right position to catch her as carefully as I could, trying not to cause her any pain.

As soon as Annabeth was in my arms, I wrapped them around her and used my body heat to keep her warm from the cool breeze. I buried my head in her hair. Her wonderful smelling hair.

"Annabeth!" We heard and then a gasp.

"We should go." I put her down and picked up most of her stuff. I ran to the familiar car and unlocked it. I hurriedly placed the things inside and Annabeth appeared beside me. I tried to block her view as best as I could. I grabbed the rest of her things and threw them in.

"Here, take my bike." I commanded her.

"Wh-what?"

"I don't think you want to drive this car." I had seen the inside and it wasn't pretty. Chains, handcuffs, ropes. Much much more disturbing things that I was thankful he didn't get to use on Annabeth. Plus, I wanted her to be safe.

I remembered Calypso. She had wanted to drive my bike. I never let her. I loved the bike more than I loved her, but with Annabeth, I didn't care if my bike was damaged, I wanted her safe.

"Okay, fine."

"Annabeth?" She turned towards me.

"You have driven a motorcycle right?" Okay, so I liked my bike. Annabeth was more important but I had saved forever for that thing.

"My dad has a motorcycle and he taught me, but no." She'll be fine, we needed to leave. Just one more thing. I stood, getting out of the smelly car.

"Annabeth." As she turned I could see an annoyed look on her face. I kissed her before she even knew what was happening. I could have melted right there in her arms. I remembered what Jason had said and realized I liked, maybe loved Annabeth, a lot. Not even Calypso made me feel this good, and she could kiss. I saw this wasn't fair to Annabeth, she had just been through something terrifying, and I was probably sparking the fear inside her again.

"I-I'm sorry." I got in the car and looked at the steering wheel, but Annabeth didn't move. Finally she ran to the motorcycle and I saw her touch her lips and smile. Then we were off. I drove straight home, feeling stupid about the kiss I gave Annabeth, even if she had smiled. My mom was waiting on the steps in front of the house.

"Percy! Thank goodness you're okay. Annabeth, I hope you're in even better shape."

Wow. Her own kid man. Just kidding, I love my mom.

"Yes, no harm done." Annabeth said

"Mom, Annabeth can't go home." I cut in.

"I can't think of a better place she could be. Did you even offer for her to stay here?" Of course, why didn't I think about asking her to stay with us? Honestly, I hadn't even thought of where Annabeth would go. I just wanted her out of that house.

"Annabeth, would you like to stay here?" I asked, facing her.

"Your mom said it, there isn't a better place I could be."

"Well you two must be hungry." My mom went to the door and looked down the street, probably for Gabe.

"Sorry for the mess. My...husband had a tantrum before he left." My mom had that disgusted edge in her tone. I felt somewhat embarrassed Annabeth had to see my house like this. My mom always kept it spotless.

"Mom, we packed up Annabeth's room. Everything is in the car." I tried to whisper to my mom without Annabeth hearing.

"That bad? Go get her things, if he comes back for the car, she won't have anything." She whispered back to me. I stepped out of Annabeth way and let her pass, her eyes locking on mine as I gave her a smile and she gave one back. Then I walked outside. I grabbed a bunch of things, hoping to only take a few trips and not being out of the house for too long. They could be talking about anything in there.

And to prove my point, when I walked in, it was silent between them until I past. Then upstairs, I heard them continue their conversation. I came back downstairs after putting all of the stuff I brought up in the corner of my room and back outside. Once again quiet. I grabbed more bags.

I walked in again and found both my mom and Annabeth looking at me. I stopped in my tracks and looked between them. Annabeth just looked curious, my mom tried to make me go upstairs. I gave them both a confused look and walked up the stairs. This time I hurried so I could hear what they were saying.

"...than Calypso." I heard.

"What about Calypso?" I asked coming down the stairs.

"Nothing. Just telling Annabeth about your old girlfriend."

"Ugh, how much did you tell her?" I came into view and sat down at the table.

"Don't worry, Seaweed Brain, nothing embarrassing. Just that you had a girlfriend named Calypso." Annabeth said, my mother's face light up.

"Hmm." She laughed.

"What?" I asked my mom.

"What a cute little nickname." Mine and Annabeth's faces turned bright red, me out of embarrassment, Annabeth? She had a faint smile on her face that she probably didn't even notice she was wearing.

"What else did she tell you? About Ca-Calypso." I stuttered, turning my attention to Annabeth.

"Nothing, just that you had a girlfriend." I tried my best to swallow, it was hard all of a sudden.

"Oh. Okay. I guess I should get the rest of the stuff then." I got up and went back to the car.

Why would my mom be telling Annabeth about Calypso?

...unless...

Did Annabeth ask if I used to have a girlfriend? Or if I had one now? I could only see one outcome for either of those questions, Jason was right.

Annabeth must have some sort of feelings for me. The blushing, the kisses, the nicknames. Neither of us probably knew until now that we had some feelings for each other. I walked in, up the stairs and back down. Everyone was quiet. I sat next to Annabeth at the table and put my head down, testing Annabeth to see if she would do or say anything to me.

She didn't have enough time.

"Percy, this is a table. Not a pillow. I'm making food." My mother said. I sat up and smiled at my mom, embarrassed. I rubbed my forehead and brushed my fingers through my hair and noticed how tired I was. I got up and traveled to the couch, I got comfy laying on the cushions, facing the open end of the couch. Today was too crazy.

I heard my mom pull out a pot and seconds later I felt a presence nearby. I felt the wind move like someone had just walked by and suddenly, the air felt warmer. Something touched my forehead lightly and moved my wild hair out of my eyes. I opened my eyes and found Annabeth staring at me.

"Hey Wise Girl."

"Hey Seaweed Brain."

"What's up?" I asked.

"Thank you. For everything. From the beginning of the day. For being at the door so I smacked into you, for watching out for me, for being my friend even though people said some lies that you totally could have believed." She couldn't meet my eyes. I decided to reassure her.

"No problem. Besides, I like to hear it from the person that is being talked about, to see if it's true. Lies can get ugly and gets people nowhere." She looked up at me and smiled.

"Why do you have to be such a dang perfect guy." I smiled at her comment and winked, my head sideways from resting it on the pillow.

"Just a natural charmer." We both laughed.

I looked at Annabeth, she was still laughing, her eyes closed, and her hand at her mouth. She was beautiful. How could anyone hurt her? From Luke to Annabeth's stepmother.

How could they?

After a few minutes of just looking at each other and holding hands, my mom called us over and we eat spaghetti. My mom asked how our day was but otherwise, it was quiet almost the whole time.

"This is delicious . Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks mom." I said.

"You don't have to call me , Annabeth. It's weird. Just call me Sally." I saw my mom tapping her finger on the table, her ring finger. Annabeth gave a small laugh and I eat my spaghetti. I slurped them into my mouth and felt something hit my cheek. I was going to wipe it when Annabeth laughed again. I looked up at her.

"Hey Percy, stay still." She reached for a napkin and wiped my face, cleaning it for me.

"Uh, thanks." I blushed. Annabeth smiled and went back to finishing her food.

"Do you want some more, Annabeth?" My mom asked.

"Oh, no. I'm alright."

"Okay. Percy, when you finish, why don't you show Annabeth where she will be sleeping."

"Sure, why not." I shrugged.

"Do you need help with the dishes?" Annabeth asked.

"No, there aren't many. It's getting late anyway. You two should get ready for bed soon." I took my last bite and grabbed both mine and Annabeth's plates and forks. I took them to the sink and wiped my mouth with a napkin. I kissed my mom on the cheek and I walked up the stairs, Annabeth behind me. I walked into my room and turned. Annabeth looked around.

"Okay, so the guest room wasn't set up so you'll be staying in my room tonight. I'll be sleeping down stairs on the couch to make sure nothing happens-I mean, so if you need anything you'll know where to-"

"Percy, could you stay with me, up here?" Annabeth cut me off. She had a surprised look on her face, like she hadn't meant to say that.

"Uh...sure. You can have the bed, I'll be by the end of the bed on the floor, so don't step on me during the night." I said uncertainly.

"No, I mean, could you sleep with me?"

"Uh, are you sure you want to-"

"You do know what I mean right. Just-"

"Yeah, yeah, of course. I just don't want to have my nose broken in the middle of the night if I move and startle you." I said awkwardly.

The room was suddenly quiet and I wanted to break the silence.

"So I'll go get another pillow and..."

"Yeah..." Annabeth said. I grabbed some pajamas from my dresser and went to the bathroom. As I changed, I thought about Annabeth. She asked me to sleep next to her. I honestly wasn't so sure about it.

And after what she has been through tonight, and probably countless other times, wouldn't she be a little overjoyed if she wasn't around a guy for a while? I put on my dark blue pajama pants and a white tee shirt, normally I don't wear a shirt but for Annabeth's sake, I did. I began brushing my teeth and walked back to my room, on the way, grabbing a pillow. I threw it on the bed next to Annabeth, who laid it down by the other pillow.

I left the room again, finished brushing my teeth and walked back into my room. Annabeth was waiting with some pajamas and a toothbrush so I showed her the bathroom. I went back to my room.

Then I sat.

Waiting.

I didn't get comfortable, or climb into my bed and tangle in the sheets. No, Annabeth probably would have been totally creeped out if I tried to get her inside when I already was. I didn't try to pull what that man did tonight. I didn't want to, it was so wrong.

Too soon enough, Annabeth came back. She wore a light blue tank top underneath a sea green shirt and gray pajama pants.

"Are you sure you want me to...you know, sleep with you tonight? I drool horribly." I said, hoping she would say no since I drooled.

"Yes. Please?" I sighed and looked at her pajamas again.

"Love the colors by the way."

"What?"

"Blue is my favorite color. That shirt looks like the color of my eyes and the gray from your pants mirrors your eyes perfectly." At the moment, they were a soft, warm gray, like her pants, but I knew when she was angry, they could turn into a cold, dark gray.

She yawned, and I copied her without trying to.

"So shall we?" She asked.

"I guess." I pulled the covers off and walked to the other side of the bed. I let her get in and then I did. Then Annabeth shivered.

"Wh-what's wrong?" I asked, hoping I didn't do anything she didn't want me to.

"You're warm." She answered me.

"Do you want another blanket?" Annabeth was going to come closer to me but I quickly got up and away, standing at the end of the bed.

"Percy, why are you so nervous? It's not like we are going to do anything." I breathed in and paced beside the bed.

"I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable with all the events that happened to you today." I stopped suddenly when Annabeth grabbed hold of my hand, I looked into her eyes.

"Percy, please. I'll be fine, just sleep." She reassured me. I closed my eyes and shook my head, asking myself if this was the right thing to do.

This is for Annabeth. She wants you to do this, she asked you to. Do it for her. I looked at her wrist and remembered what Gabe had done. I had to do this for her.

I gave in and slowly made my way back into the bed. Once I was comfortable, Annabeth stretched next to me and rested her hands on my chest. I grew uneasy.

"A-are you sure you don't want the blanket?" I stuttered.

"Nope. This is perfectly fine." She brought her hands up to my neck, wrapping them around it.

"O-okay." I stuttered again. I then realized something. She was comfortable, so...she wants this?

Actually, I'm quite fine with it.

I brought my hands to her back but pulled them back when she shuttered.

"No, put them there." I wasn't planning on it, but I placed them right back on her back, pulling her closer.

"I think I owe you something." She said suddenly.

"What do you-" I didn't get to finish my question before Annabeth interrupted me with a kiss.

"You gave me two kisses, now I gave you my second. Don't think you can start giving all the first kisses, Seaweed Brain." She put her head on my chest and instantly fell asleep.

Yet another kiss, what is that? 4? Annabeth had to like me. She just kissed me, wiped my face at the table, right in front of my mom too...my mom.

She had tapped her ring finger, on her left hand...oh mom.

She was telling Annabeth that maybe one day she could be a Jackson. How embarrassing. As I laid down next to Annabeth I felt uncomfortable again. Not because of her, but because of what my mom did. Then again, Annabeth laughed, she didn't choke or seem uncomfortable or anything.

If Annabeth had no problem kissing me after what my mom had done, maybe it didn't bother her.

And each time we kissed, I loved it with a passion. A passion so great, I wished I could kiss her forever. But then we need air.

Jason was right, I did want Annabeth to think of me as a guy that wouldn't be like the rest. I wanted to be hers, and her to be mine. No matter how hard I would have to try, I wouldn't give up. All the pain I might have to go through, I wouldn't give up, not for a second.

All because Annabeth was and is worth it.

I brought my chin up to her forehead and her grip on me tightened. I smiled and twirled a strand of her hair around my finger.

"I'm never giving up on you Annabeth. I promise." I kissed her forehead and I could have sworn I saw her smile.

"I...I love you."

* * *

 _ **How was it?**_

 _ **Question of the day: What in the world does the score on Snapchat mean? Maybe some of you techy or more involved people can tell me. I honestly don't really care about a score but it bothers me not to know.**_

 ** _Thanks for reading and Review please!_**


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